Ian Shipley helps Mt. Pleasant baseball snap Yough winning streak
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Monday, April 13, 2026 | 9:08 PM
Mt. Pleasant’s Bobby Smith celebrates with Ian Shipley after Shipley’s home run against Yough on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Mt. Pleasant’s Dane Firmstone scores behind Yough catcher Ethan Yuvan on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Mt. Pleasant catcher Colton Keffer tags out Yough’s Aidan Shaffer on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Yough’s Jason Onder slides under the tag attempt by Mt. Pleasant’s Carter Urban on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Yough starting pitcher Nate Bell throws against Mt. Pleasant on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Yough’s Ethan Yuvan hits against Mt. Pleasant on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Mt. Pleasant starting pitcher Jordan Grieff throws against Yough on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Yough’s John Steban completes the unassisted putout of Mt. Pleasant’s Carter Urban on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Mt. Pleasant’s Santo Marne celebrates as he scores behind Dane Firmstone against Yough in a five-run first inning Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Mt. Pleasant’s Ian Shipley scores behind Yough catcher Ethan Yuvan on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Mt. Pleasant’s Bobby Smithnosky makes a running catch against Yough on Monday. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)
Yough had the grill fired up under a tent that served as the concession stand for Monday’s baseball game.
One of the more popular items on the menu was a smash burger, and their smell was thick in the air.
Mt. Pleasant shortstop Ian Shipley didn’t have time to order a burger, but he did do some smashing on the field.
Shipley went 3 for 3, with a towering home run to right center, and drove in four runs as Mt. Pleasant stretched its winning streak to six with a 10-2 victory over Yough in Section 3-3A action on Cougar Mountain.
“We had some timely hits, selfless hits,” Mt. Pleasant coach Chris Firmstone said. “This was a team type of game. We put the ball in play. Hitting is very contagious.”
Mt. Pleasant (7-4, 5-2) piled up 15 hits and built an 8-2 lead after three innings against Yough (6-3, 3-2), which has two comeback wins at home this season. In the rally-cap games — wins of 14-13 over Elizabeth Forward and 16-12 against Frazier — the Cougars trailed 11-1 and 10-3.
But there was no bounce-back this time, even though the Cougars loaded the bases twice and left 11 on base.
They couldn’t produce a big hit when they had men on base, even grounding into a triple play in the fourth, as their winning streak was halted at five.
“That’s baseball,” Yough coach Andy Chopp said. “Sometimes you’re the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you. Today, (Mt. Pleasant) was the bear. It wasn’t our day.”
Shipley’s homer was impressive because Yough has one of the largest fields in the WPIAL. Shipley’s blast was estimated to travel more than 390 feet.
“I thought it was a double, so I was quick out of the box,” said Shipley, who transferred from Greensburg Central Catholic. “I was hustling out of the box. That first inning gave us a lot of momentum.”
Shipley ripped a two-run single to open the scoring, and Colten Keefer, Carter Unger and Carter Urban followed with RBI singles, Keefer’s with the bases loaded. The five-run first had the Vikings nearly halfway to their season average of 9.5 runs a game.
Yough, which was scoring at a 9.6-run clip, made it 5-1 in the first via an error.
But Shipley’s blast made it 7-1 in the second, when the Vikings chased Cougars ace Nate Bell.
“That was an off-speed pitch,” Firmstone said. “Ian is a good hitter and showed it there.”
Yough added its second run in the second on Tyler Burkett’s run-scoring single.
But the Cougars left the bases full when Gabe Shakoska lined into an inning-ending double play.
Mt. Pleasant made it 8-2 in the third when it scored on a passed ball.
Yough had runners at second and third in the third after a hit batter and an error but was picked off to cancel the threat.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth, Burkett grounded into a wild 6-4-2-1-5 triple play.
“That was a crazy play,” Firmstone said. “It was just like, whoever is not on base, tag them.”
Said Shipley, who scooped the ball up and started the triple play: “It was all reacting. It was spur of the moment, heads-up.”
Santino Marne led off the fifth with a triple, and Bobby Smithnosky singled him in. After an intentional walk to Shipley and a groundout, Keefer smacked a double to push the advantage to 10-2.
Vikings starting pitcher Jordan Grieff was efficient, allowing four hits and no earned runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Yough had five hits, struck out five times, was hit by a pitch five times and did not walk.
“Our team is resilient,” Chopp said. “We knew Mt. Pleasant could hit the ball, but we can, too. (Tuesday) is going to be a great game.”
Mt. Pleasant walked six times.
Urban finished 3 for 5, and Marne and Keefer had two hits apiece for the Vikings.
“We’re trying to get everything to come together as a team,” Firmstone said. “These guys are always doing something together. The 12th graders and the freshmen all get along. The older guys are taking them under their wing.”
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Yough
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