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UNIVERSITY PARK — So many times, Abbi Call carried the Valley View softball team.
On Friday, her teammates had her back.
With the Clemson University commit struggling in the pitching circle, Valley View unleashed a 14-hit attack to overcome an early five-run deficit and outslug Blackhawk, 13-8, in the PIAA Class 4A final on a muggy Friday afternoon at Penn State University Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
Zoie Krupovich had three hits and three RBIs, while Ashlan Palickar and Maggie Hallett each added two hits and three RBIs as District 2 champion Valley View (24-3) repeated as state champion and captured the fourth title in program history.
“Defend what’s ours. That’s been our motto for the last three weeks,” Valley View coach Mia Wascura said. “Win what’s yours and they did it. I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.”
Call allowed eight runs (four earned) and nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
“We were all freaking out and after the second inning we came back in the dugout and I said, ‘We need to get it together or we’re going to be done,’” Call said. “We went out and did so well after that.
“They definitely did (pick me up). I say this all the time, not everyone is going to have a good game every single day. Just knowing I have girls who are almost my sisters there to pick me up even when things are going bad just helps me a lot.”
Addison Ramer had two hits and five RBIs for District 7 runner-up Blackhawk (15-6), which made its first state final appearance.
Trailing, 5-1, Valley View sent 12 batters to the plate and scored nine of them on nine hits. The first six reached on base hits.
“We practiced and prepped for the low ball and the higher rise ball and drop curve proved to kill us a bit because we weren’t adjusting in those first innings,” Wascura said. “We weren’t sinking to that level and staying through. But once we did, we scored nine runs in a single inning. It became infectious. One led to another to another. Every person in that dugout, one through 18, cared and wanted it.”
Hallett started it with a double. Krupovich hit a dribbler up the third-base line for an infield single that sent courtesy runner Lilly Smith to third. After Krupovich took second on defensive indifference, Palickar doubled to left-center to score both runners and pull Valley View within 5-3. Palickar then moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-4.
Coral Kelly singled and Mady Minelli doubled. Nevaeh Evans singled to score Kelly with the tying run, send Minelli to third with Evans taking second on the throw.
Pitcher Kylie Prisuta retired the next two batters and Call was intentionally walked to load the bases. Hallett, batting for the second time in the inning, blooped a ball into no-man’s land in shallow right-center field that fell in for a hit. When the Blackhawk center and right fielder collided, all three runners scored to put Valley View in front, 8-5.
“That three-run single I knew I had to get on the ball,” Hallett said. “Even though it wasn’t the best hit, I just did what I had to for my team. Just happy I can help out.”
Blackhawk right fielder Ava Elich was injured on the play and replaced by Sadie Lindner. Krupovich lined a triple past Lindner to score Evans and make it 9-5. Palickar capped the outburst with a single to score Krupovich and give Valley View a 10-5 lead.
Brynn Hysong singled, Ramer reached when a fly ball was dropped for a two-base error and Lara Selick hit a sacrifice fly to enable Blackhawk to get one of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth.
But in the top of the sixth, Valley View got three big insurance runs. Cora Castellani singled with one out, took third on two wild pitches and scored on an RBI single by Call. With two outs, Krupovich blasted a two-run home run to center field for a 13-6 advantage.
“I missed the first one and I told myself I have to be shorter and really have to catch that inside pitch and that’s exactly what I did,” Krupovich said. “Honestly, it was the best feeling in the world. Especially when you have your whole community behind you when you do it. There’s no feeling like that.”
Those runs were key because Ramer hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to bring Blackhawk within 13-8. Later in the inning, Call issued back-to-back one-out walks, but retired the next two batters to keep the margin at five.
Then, three outs from a repeat as state champion, Call threw her only 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh inning, punctuating it with her seventh strikeout.
“My dad always tells me to finish strong and set the tone,” Call said. “Just being out there knowing it was the last three outs ever in my high school career, it meant so much to me. Especially since I’m going so far away to play college and leaving all these girls.”
After Valley View went down in order in the top of the first, Blackhawk jumped on Call immediately. Eva Parris doubled just inside the third-base line. Hysong followed with an infield single that sent Parris to third. Ramer hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Parris to make it 1-0. That ended Valley View’s streak of nine straight shutouts and 59 consecutive scoreless innings.
Selick followed with an RBI single to score Hysong and give Blackhawk a 2-0 lead.
“Definitely impressed by her. But we weren’t intimidated,” Blackhawk coach James Riggio said. “All year, we’ve faced pitchers not similar quality. She was probably the hardest thrower we faced all year. We were just resilient. We put bats on balls, one through nine. We kept saying let’s get people on base, score a couple runs and see what happens.
“I think we hit her harder than anybody’s hit her all year. But do something about that fourth inning and maybe something’s different.”
In the bottom of the second, Blackhawk added to its lead with three two-out runs. Ramer ripped a two-run double down the left field line and scored on a single by Selick to make it 5-0.
Kelly led off the top of the third with a single for Valley View. Evans singled with one out and the runners advanced to third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch. Ella Swingle walked to load the bases and Castellani had an RBI fielder’s choice to cut the deficit to 5-1.
That set up the decisive nine-run outburst in the top of the fourth.
“I think (repeating) feels better than last year because we got that comeback,” Hallett said. “We came out flat, but we got up at the end. It feels amazing to win back-to-back.”
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On Friday, her teammates had her back.
With the Clemson University commit struggling in the pitching circle, Valley View unleashed a 14-hit attack to overcome an early five-run deficit and outslug Blackhawk, 13-8, in the PIAA Class 4A final on a muggy Friday afternoon at Penn State University Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
Zoie Krupovich had three hits and three RBIs, while Ashlan Palickar and Maggie Hallett each added two hits and three RBIs as District 2 champion Valley View (24-3) repeated as state champion and captured the fourth title in program history.
“Defend what’s ours. That’s been our motto for the last three weeks,” Valley View coach Mia Wascura said. “Win what’s yours and they did it. I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.”
Call allowed eight runs (four earned) and nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
“We were all freaking out and after the second inning we came back in the dugout and I said, ‘We need to get it together or we’re going to be done,’” Call said. “We went out and did so well after that.
“They definitely did (pick me up). I say this all the time, not everyone is going to have a good game every single day. Just knowing I have girls who are almost my sisters there to pick me up even when things are going bad just helps me a lot.”
Addison Ramer had two hits and five RBIs for District 7 runner-up Blackhawk (15-6), which made its first state final appearance.
Trailing, 5-1, Valley View sent 12 batters to the plate and scored nine of them on nine hits. The first six reached on base hits.
“We practiced and prepped for the low ball and the higher rise ball and drop curve proved to kill us a bit because we weren’t adjusting in those first innings,” Wascura said. “We weren’t sinking to that level and staying through. But once we did, we scored nine runs in a single inning. It became infectious. One led to another to another. Every person in that dugout, one through 18, cared and wanted it.”
Hallett started it with a double. Krupovich hit a dribbler up the third-base line for an infield single that sent courtesy runner Lilly Smith to third. After Krupovich took second on defensive indifference, Palickar doubled to left-center to score both runners and pull Valley View within 5-3. Palickar then moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-4.
Coral Kelly singled and Mady Minelli doubled. Nevaeh Evans singled to score Kelly with the tying run, send Minelli to third with Evans taking second on the throw.
Pitcher Kylie Prisuta retired the next two batters and Call was intentionally walked to load the bases. Hallett, batting for the second time in the inning, blooped a ball into no-man’s land in shallow right-center field that fell in for a hit. When the Blackhawk center and right fielder collided, all three runners scored to put Valley View in front, 8-5.
“That three-run single I knew I had to get on the ball,” Hallett said. “Even though it wasn’t the best hit, I just did what I had to for my team. Just happy I can help out.”
Blackhawk right fielder Ava Elich was injured on the play and replaced by Sadie Lindner. Krupovich lined a triple past Lindner to score Evans and make it 9-5. Palickar capped the outburst with a single to score Krupovich and give Valley View a 10-5 lead.
Brynn Hysong singled, Ramer reached when a fly ball was dropped for a two-base error and Lara Selick hit a sacrifice fly to enable Blackhawk to get one of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth.
But in the top of the sixth, Valley View got three big insurance runs. Cora Castellani singled with one out, took third on two wild pitches and scored on an RBI single by Call. With two outs, Krupovich blasted a two-run home run to center field for a 13-6 advantage.
“I missed the first one and I told myself I have to be shorter and really have to catch that inside pitch and that’s exactly what I did,” Krupovich said. “Honestly, it was the best feeling in the world. Especially when you have your whole community behind you when you do it. There’s no feeling like that.”
Those runs were key because Ramer hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to bring Blackhawk within 13-8. Later in the inning, Call issued back-to-back one-out walks, but retired the next two batters to keep the margin at five.
Then, three outs from a repeat as state champion, Call threw her only 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh inning, punctuating it with her seventh strikeout.
“My dad always tells me to finish strong and set the tone,” Call said. “Just being out there knowing it was the last three outs ever in my high school career, it meant so much to me. Especially since I’m going so far away to play college and leaving all these girls.”
After Valley View went down in order in the top of the first, Blackhawk jumped on Call immediately. Eva Parris doubled just inside the third-base line. Hysong followed with an infield single that sent Parris to third. Ramer hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Parris to make it 1-0. That ended Valley View’s streak of nine straight shutouts and 59 consecutive scoreless innings.
Selick followed with an RBI single to score Hysong and give Blackhawk a 2-0 lead.
“Definitely impressed by her. But we weren’t intimidated,” Blackhawk coach James Riggio said. “All year, we’ve faced pitchers not similar quality. She was probably the hardest thrower we faced all year. We were just resilient. We put bats on balls, one through nine. We kept saying let’s get people on base, score a couple runs and see what happens.
“I think we hit her harder than anybody’s hit her all year. But do something about that fourth inning and maybe something’s different.”
In the bottom of the second, Blackhawk added to its lead with three two-out runs. Ramer ripped a two-run double down the left field line and scored on a single by Selick to make it 5-0.
Kelly led off the top of the third with a single for Valley View. Evans singled with one out and the runners advanced to third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch. Ella Swingle walked to load the bases and Castellani had an RBI fielder’s choice to cut the deficit to 5-1.
That set up the decisive nine-run outburst in the top of the fourth.
“I think (repeating) feels better than last year because we got that comeback,” Hallett said. “We came out flat, but we got up at the end. It feels amazing to win back-to-back.”
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