Agape Freedom Sports LLC

WRITTEN BY: JERIC YURKANIN

Valley View’s Lady Cougars made the trip down to Wilkes-Barre on Monday afternoon for a showdown with Holy Redeemer, last season’s District 2 Class 2A champions.

But this one felt a whole lot different than the Cougars’ season opener.

The sun was out. Temperatures sat in the mid-60s. For one of the first times this season, it actually felt like spring softball had finally arrived.

And Valley View looked ready for it.

After surviving a sloppy opener against Pittston Area last week — a game where the Cougars struggled defensively, had shaky moments in the circle, and let things get a lot tighter than they probably should have — Valley View came into this one looking like a team with something to prove.

Yes, they escaped with a dramatic walk-off win, thanks to shortstop Cora Castellani’s two-run double.

But even in victory, the Cougars knew that was not their cleanest brand of softball.

It was messy. It was uneven. At times, it was ugly.

Still, it was also the first game of the season. A few players had only wrapped up basketball about two weeks earlier, and sometimes early-season rust shows up before rhythm does.

This time, though, Valley View looked much more like Valley View.

The defense was sharper. The energy was steadier. The pitching was in command.

And against Holy Redeemer, the Lady Cougars came out with purpose from the very first inning.

You could feel it early.

The bats were alive.

The dugout had energy.

The momentum was real.

In the top of the first, Ella Swingle worked a walk against Holy Redeemer pitcher Ava Thomas to get things started. After Castellani popped out, Abbi Call stepped in and wasted no time making noise, hammering a ball to left field for an RBI double that brought Swingle home and gave Valley View a 1-0 lead.

Courtesy runner Carissa Jenner came on for Call, and the Cougars kept right on pressing.

Sophomore catcher Maggie Hallett, one of Valley View’s other dangerous bats, smoked a single to left field, and suddenly you could feel the Cougars feeding off the moment. Jenner later raced home to make it 2-0, and the inning kept snowballing from there.

“Maggie has a big impact on the team. She plays one of the hardest positions on the field and does very well. She is a great player, and I can’t wait to see what she does in the future,” said Abbi Call.

“Today my mentality was just see ball, hit ball. Hearing the cheering from the dugout really helped me out at the plate because I knew all my teammates had my back. My catching was good because I have trust in my pitchers, and I always know that my coach will make the right decision in the end. Having my teammates there for me is always going to boost my game and make me the best player I can be,” said Valley View catcher Maggie Hallett.

She added: “I stayed locked in by watching the game and every at-bat. I’d watch a pitcher and time her up, and that was what caused me to get some of the hits I had today. When I’m catching, I just focus on playing catch with my pitcher and making the best decisions I can on the field.”

Zoie Krupovich then delivered a hit to center field, and courtesy runner Lilly Smith — in for Hallett — used her speed to fly around and score, stretching the lead to 3-0.

Valley View was rolling.

Ashlan Palickar followed with a single to reach base. MadyMinnelli was retired on strikes, but the inning still had more left in it. Liv Lemoncelli came through with a single that brought home two more runs, and just like that, the Lady Cougars had blown the game open early with a 5-0 lead.

From there, Valley View took complete control.

Holy Redeemer was held scoreless through the first four innings as the Cougars’ defense settled in and the pitching kept everything quiet.

Then came the fifth.

Ella Swingle crushed a ball to center field and turned it into a triple, and not long after, Castellani lifted a sacrifice fly to bring her home and make it 6-0 Valley View.

And even with the lead already in hand, the Cougars never let up.

In the fifth and sixth innings, Valley View’s defense and pitching continued to lock things down, keeping Holy Redeemer off the board and never allowing any real momentum to build.

Then in the top of the seventh, Valley View added one more.

Abbi Call singled, and Maggie Hallett dropped down a bunt that led to a catcher’s error, allowing Call to come home with the final run of the afternoon.

That made it 7-0.

“Our hitting was a lot better today. We showed up wanting to win, and we are ready to come out tomorrow against Abington,” said Abbi Call.

“Everyone adjusted at the plate and put the ball into play. Everyone in the lineup helped one another, and we came together as a team. There was a lot of communication this game, and everyone trusted one another to make the play and back our pitchers up,” said Valley View senior third baseman Ella Swingle.

She continued: “Everyone worked together as a team and won the game together. People fed off the first hit to the last.”

And fittingly, the Lady Cougars finished it the same way they had controlled it most of the day — with clean defense and strong pitching.

Abbi Call pitched five innings and was perfect through those five, allowing no hits and just two walks. She was just as strong at the plate, finishing with three hits, one RBI, and one run scored.

“I knew I had to come back. Failure makes me want to push harder to succeed. I worked in the cages the last few days, breaking down my mechanics and focusing on the small things,” said Abbi Call.

“Abbi Call had a wonderful day. She has this laser focus that is incredible to witness. Reasons like that are why she is a next-level player,” said Valley View head coach Mia Wascura.

Holy Redeemer was turned away again in the bottom of the seventh, and Valley View walked off the field with a complete, convincing shutout victory.

If last week was about surviving, this one was about responding.

“Our team came out big and set the tone early for sure. These kids know everybody is going to have their best games against them. Our approach at the plate has stayed the same. We are always looking for our pitch to hit and making adjustments within the at-bat,” said head coach Mia Wascura.

She added: “We really repped a ton defensively this past week. We are ironing out all of the kinks. The pitchers know that our defense has their back, so they are pitching with continued confidence every game.”

This looked more like the Valley View team people expected to see.

Sharper.

Cleaner.

More confident.

“The confidence that we had in this game was definitely much better than what we had going into the last game. I think we played more as a team today, and the team chemistry looked much better. There were fewer errors and more communication, which led to greater plays being made,” said Maggie Hallett.

She continued: “Everybody was talking before each play, and we’d cheer each other on, and that led to a greater amount of energy in the dugout and confidence in one another. Nobody was really sitting down — we were all up cheering the entire game. Every time somebody got a hit, we’d be up, and that carried into the next at-bats. If someone made an error or struck out, we were there to pick them up. That led to the win we achieved today.”

And now, after a 7-0 performance, the Lady Cougars head into an even bigger test Tuesday with a showdown against a very strong Abington Heights team that can hit, pitch, and defend with just about anybody.

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