With sense of excitement, Mt. Pleasant ready to play ball

Members of the Mt. Pleasant high school baseball team had a feeling they could accomplish something this spring with the experience and talent they had developed the past three years.

When the coronavirus pandemic forced the PIAA to cancel all spring sports, the Vikings saw those hopes for a successful season disappear. Now, although they won’t be chasing a WPIAL title, Mt. Pleasant baseball players saw a little bit of that hope reappear.

In place of the canceled American Legion baseball season, Latrobe manager and Region 7 director Jason Bush put together Westmoreland County American League Baseball, which contains 10 of the 11 District 31 Legion programs.

District 31 will return to its original name next season, as will American Legion baseball. But until then, the Mt. Pleasant players, led by manager John Yester, have something to look forward to.

“All the guys, the coaches, everyone is extremely excited,” Yester said. “We had our first practice on Sunday, and it was awesome. You could see the excitement in the guys. Just their actions, there was obviously an extra pep in their step and it just was an exciting time to see them playing ball again.”

Mt. Pleasant, which also has four players from Southmoreland, will play its first league game Tuesday against Yough at Sutersville.

Yester returns most of his players from a team that went 4-13 in District 31 last year. Most of the players have more than experience on their side.

Several players have been playing together since they were young, and Yester has coached them along the way. He’s in his second year of coaching them in the summer but knows what each of them has to offer.

“My coaching staff and I have been around this group of kids since they were little,” Yester said. “They are basically the group we took to the state tournament two years in a row. Now, they are either graduating high school or they are going to be seniors.”

Mt. Pleasant also has a lot of returning talent. The pitching staff is led by Joe Shrum and Jared Wagner, who threw a combined 56 innings for the Vikings during the high school season last year.

Yester said the staff goes seven or eight pitchers deep, and most of the key contributors from last year returned.

Mt. Pleasant’s entire infield returns, including either Wagner or Shrum at third base and a pitcher in each outfield corner spot with Trevor Mason patrolling center field. Along with Mt. Pleasant’s experience on defense, Yester said the lineup also will be strong top to bottom.

“We’re extremely deep in pitching this year,” Yester said. “It would’ve been fun to watch these guys play in high school this season. I think they would’ve been extremely competitive. It’s definitely exciting.”

While shaking off the rust from its forced down time, Mt. Pleasant might have to find a way to succeed on the road.

The team normally plays its games at Mt. Pleasant High School in the summer, but with the district shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic the team isn’t able to use the facilities.

Yester said the team still doesn’t yet have a home field, but he has been in contact with the school district and said July 1 may be a possibility if all goes to plan.

“We are sort of searching for a possible home field,” Yester said. “But there is a good possibility that all of our games will be away.“