Agape Freedom Sports LLC

WRITTEN BY: JERIC YURKANIN

Long before Valley View ace Abbi Call ever picked up a softball — before she learned to walk, talk, or even throw — the foundation was already there.

The Call family roots run deep in this valley.

Deep enough to hit coal.

This is a family shaped by hard work, sacrifice, and survival. Some worked the Archbald coal mines — where nothing came easy and everything came with risk. One chapter of that history still echoes loudly: Abbi’s grandfather’s brother, a coal miner and part co-owner of a mine, lost his life in a mining accident at just 21 years old.

In this valley, providing for your family was never a slogan.

It was the job.

It was the burden.

It was the price.

Nothing was handed out. You worked. You endured. You found a way.

And that mindset didn’t disappear with time — it carried forward.

Because when you trace the Call family story, the pattern is unmistakable: grit, resilience, commitment. Success wasn’t guaranteed here. Survival wasn’t guaranteed. You got your hands dirty. You showed up when it was hard. You pushed forward anyway.

That same DNA showed up years later on Friday nights at Valley View.

Abbi’s father, Ryan Call, was a lineman for the Cougars in the mid-1990s. He wasn’t the biggest guy on the field — about 5’10”, 210 pounds — but size never defined him.

Effort did.

Toughness did.

That Call work ethic showed up every snap: hands in the dirt, sometimes dirt in the mouth, knocked down but never staying down.

Ryan didn’t play like his measurements.

He played like he was 6’7”, 335 — clearing lanes, battling in the trenches, making holes for Sean Fisher, doing the unglamorous work that makes everyone else shine.

That was the Call way.

Life didn’t hand the family anything freely. Progress had to be earned. Every inch mattered.

And eventually, that same edge — the competitiveness, the drive, the refusal to quit — found its way to the circle.

Abbi Call didn’t inherit talent alone.

She inherited expectation.

Now, she stands among the best pitchers ever to come out of Valley View — heading into the 2026 high school softball season ranked among the Top 40 seniors in the country.

But her story didn’t skip the struggle.

“Softball is 90 percent failure and 10 percent reaction,” Abbi said. “If you don’t get up and try again and have self-confidence, you’ll never reach your true potential. I struggled with self-doubt and confidence, but seeing all the people supporting me made me realize that when I put my jersey on, I’m playing for the people who want to see me succeed.”

For Abbi Call, the jersey isn’t just a uniform.

It’s history.

It’s pressure.

It’s purpose.

It’s the fight.

It’s refusing to stop swinging — even when you’ve been hit in the mouth by the game.

Because that “never quit” gene?

It didn’t start with her.

Her great-grandfather, Edward Zelinski, was a boxer — the kind of fighter who didn’t blink, didn’t flinch, didn’t fold. He became a force in the local amateur boxing circuit and won the Pennsylvania Welterweight Golden Gloves Championship at just 17 years old in 1947.

A fighter.

Dropped? Get back up.

Hit hard? Keep coming.

No defeat living in him.

And the toughness didn’t stop there.

Abbi’s mother, Danielle Call, was a standout high school softball player at West Scranton in the early 1990s — the kind of hitter who didn’t poke singles.

She hammered home runs.

Her grandfather, Richard, was known as a very good slow-pitch softball player in his adult years — steady, skilled, competitive.

So yeah… it’s in there.

Talent.

Hard work.

Grit.

And a certain kind of silence — the kind that doesn’t talk about it.

It just shows you.

Abbi’s hard work didn’t go unnoticed.

Last season, she finished second on the team in batting average at .515 — just behind former teammate Kalli Karwowski, now a Penn State freshman. She scored 26 runs, drove in 27 RBIs, and blasted 10 home runs.

This season is different.

It’s her last year in high school.

Her final chance to make noise before heading south — before pulling on orange, purple, and white and throwing for the Clemson Tigers.

Abbi was a key piece in Valley View’s 4A state championship run last season and is one of the main reasons the Cougars are favored to make another deep playoff push this year.

Clemson is lucky to be getting a player like Abbi.

And I’ll admit it — I’m just as thrilled as anyone. I bleed orange, purple, and white.

“Playing for the cougars really showed me who I have behind my back. It has gave me many friendships that are almost like family. We strive to be better for eachother and push eachother no matter what,” said Abbi Call.

She never forgets the people who stood with her through every high and every low.

“My family and friends. They never failed to be there for me. My friends always supported me and never questioned my ability to accomplish anything I said I was going to… they sat back and watched me do it,” said Call.

She continued:

“One lesson that I have learned throughout my life is that there will be many lows, but it’s about who shows up in the rain when they have the chance to stay dry. That’s what really matters. Look around and appreciate who you have around you before it’s too late.”

As she looks ahead to Clemson, Abbi already knows her purpose extends beyond the field.

“I’m passionate about weightlifting and helping other athletes work through their struggles. I plan to study psychology to help athletes like myself understand the struggles of the game.”

When Abbi Call walks off the field for the last time at Valley View High School, she will leave behind more than stats.

She will leave a legacy.

A standard.

A work ethic.

A belief that Division I dreams are real in this valley.

With head coach Mia Wascura at the helm, Valley View has become a place where elite players are developed — a program Division I schools will keep watching in the years ahead.

But Abbi’s story?

It was written long before she ever toed the rubber.

It began generations ago — in coal dust, in boxing rings, on Friday nights, in backyards, and in quiet determination.

Now she’s added her own chapter.

The door is open.

Clemson awaits.