Yough gets balanced offense, stellar pitching in rout of Mt. Pleasant

By: Jose Negron
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 | 9:19 PM

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A day after scoring four runs in the top of the fifth of a come-from-behind win over Mt. Pleasant, the Yough baseball team made sure another comeback wasn’t needed in a Section 4-3A matchup Tuesday afternoon.

The Cougars had 14 hits and featured six players with multi-hit performances in an 11-1 rout of the Vikings in five innings on Cougar Mountain.

“We’ve been waiting for that,” Yough coach Dan Palm said. “We’ve had streaks where we’ve scored a lot of runs, but then we’ve also had some cold streaks as well. All through the lineup we were hitting, so it was nice to put it all together today.”

The Cougars (11-3, 8-0) were forced to play without the services of their No. 2 hitter, James Shoman, who missed Tuesday’s game after being ejected after a play at the plate in the first meeting.

Still, Yough managed to put together an impressive offensive showing, as Jack Sampson, Carson Pasinski, Dom Maroney, Bobby Etze, Milan Aujay and Aidan Werner finished with two hits each. All nine batters reached base at least once for the Cougars, who secured their fourth consecutive win.

“It was nice to see some kids move around in the order and produce in the spots they were in,” Palm said.

Zander Aird and Sampson set the tone for the game with back-to-back triples to lead off the bottom of the first. Sampson’s triple scored Aird with the game’s first run before Pasinski added an RBI single to give Yough a 2-0 lead.

“Having two guys with power at the top of the lineup is key,” Palm said. “What they did there with those triples, that’s tough for an opposing pitcher to mentally come back from. That was big for us.”

Yough added three more in the bottom of the third thanks in part to Aujay, who finished with a team-high four RBIs.

Gavin Roebuck reached on a fielder’s choice, and Dom Maroney singled to left before Etze took a 3-1 pitch from Mt. Pleasant starter pitcher Luke Nicotera up the middle for an RBI single. Two batters later, Aujay came up with a two-run single into right-center field for a five-run cushion.

Aujay added another two-run single during a six-run fifth inning for the Cougars.

“One through nine, we’ve got guys who can hit,” Palm said. “This wasn’t unexpected because we know we’ve got good hitters.”

Yough’s fifth inning featured six hits, including four straight singles, and a pair of walks.

Blake Ulander followed singles by Maroney and Etze with a run-scoring single that made it 6-1.

After Aujay’s second two-run single, Werner and Aird walked before Sampson lifted a bloop single into right field to plate another run. A two-run single by Pasinski ended the game via the mercy rule.

“It’s hard to win back-to-back games, especially against a team like that. Mt. Pleasant is scrappy, and they’re a well-coached team,” Palm said. “The games are always really competitive, so it was big to get that sweep.”

The offensive support was plenty for freshman pitcher Nate Bell. He tossed five innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Mt. Pleasant (4-7, 3-5) scored its lone run in the top of the fifth after a leadoff free pass to Lane Gulkosky. He advanced to second on a passed ball and went to third on a balk before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Cole Chatfield.

“Nate has nerves of steel, and when he’s on the mound, you know you always have a chance,” Palm said of the 14-year-old hurler, who is now 4-0. “He always pitches to contact, and he had good movement on his pitches. He did a good job of keeping them off balance.”

Yough still has some work to do as it chases yet another section championship.

The Cougars begin a two-game series with McGuffey on Monday.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Yough