LEHIGHTON – The Valley View fans seated on top of the hill in left-center knew it before Coral Kelly’s foot hit first base.

“Someone catch Coral’s home run,” a fan clad in blue and yellow yelled out before the ball even crossed the fence.

Jubilation took over the hill surrounding Lehighton High School’s softball field after the two-run shot in the third.

The Cougars had to wait a little longer before officially punching their ticket back to the PIAA Class 4A state championship game.

Valley View broke the game open with a four-run third, and Abbi Call put the exclamation point on it with a three-run shot in the sixth as the Cougars blanked District 1 champ Pope John Paul II, 8-0, on Monday afternoon to advance into Friday’s title tilt at Penn State’s Beard Field.

“For me, that moment was about pure joy,” Kelly said. “Coach Mia (Wascura) kept yelling to me to get it done, get it done. She knew that I could do it, and I just took it and rolled with it. For us, this was a team effort and everyone stood together. Practices were very consistent. We do the same thing over and over again, and honestly, we just play like a family.”

Valley View (23-3) will face off with the winner of Blackhawk and Harbor Creek in Friday’s 1:30 p.m. championship for the chance to defend its state title from one year ago.

The Cougars also extended their scoreless innings streak to 59, and it was their ninth-straight shutout as Call and the defense haven’t allow a run since May 5 against Scranton Prep.

“You could sense it before we got here. Everyone was so hyped up on the bus, and we were singing karaoke. It was such a crazy feeling, knowing that if we won this game, we were going to the championship,” Call said. “A lot of people doubted us in the beginning, and I think that we proved some people wrong. It’s a surreal feeling, know that we have a chance to win this back-to-back.”

Flawless.

That’s the way Wascura always describes her defense and Call. It’s built through practice; constant reps, ball after ball, to establish that consistency. No bobbles. No misreads. Just pure understanding of what’s going to happen.

Just watch Mady Minelli and the way she broke on a long fly ball by PJP’s Harper Haddle. The Cougar left field never missed a beat. She sprinted back to the perfect spot, located the ball in mid-air and watched it right into her glove.

In most games, that ball probably hits off the base of the fence.

Not Monday.

“Everything is coming together, and I attribute that to consistent practices,” Wascura said. “And if you would have asked me last year, I would have given the same answer. We do the same things. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel and do something crazy. We bring it back to basics. These kids gel well with the coaching staff, and I think it’s two-fold. In order for a team to shine, they have to trust the process and the coaches. The culture has been established over the last three years with this coaching staff.”

With the way Call and her defense is humming, one run is proving to be enough.

Give them five runs, and it’s ballgame – no matter what inning.

It just turned out to be the third against the Panthers.

Up 1-0 on Nevaeh Evans’ RBI grounder in the second, Valley View went to work in the third.

Cora Castellani led off the inning with a walk, and a double by Call put runners in scoring position with no outs. Castellani scored when the Panthers infield couldn’t handle Zoie Krupovich’s roller, and courtesy runner Grace Munley touched home on Ashlyn Palicker’s RBI grounder as the Cougars had a three-run lead.

“Everyone is making good adjustments and seeing the pitcher real well,” Valley View catcher Maggie Hallett said. “The dugout is really helping, too, with all the cheering. You know that you are going to have to work so much harder because you know that everyone is out to get you. But everyone is getting it done because our goal was to get back to the championship again.”

That advantage blossomed to five on one swing of the bat by Kelly, who launched a 2-1 offering from Gianna Forte to the hillside in left-center.

“Coral has earned this. She has become an impact player this year. And she’s humble and kind. She’s a rockstar, and honestly, you are so happy for those kids because they work hard and earn it,” Wascura said.

In the other dugout, Pope John Paul II (14-10) couldn’t find any rhythm against Call.

Alyssa Salatin drew a walk to start the first, but Call buckled down as the Clemson product retired 10 straight before Haddle broke up the no-hitter with a one-out single to left in the fourth.

The only other Panther hit was Charlie Hallman’s seeing-eye single that just snuck out of the infield into center field.

Call finished with a two-hitter, 10 strikeouts and only one walk.

“Recently, I’ve been just trying to stay relaxed and stay out of my head. I feel like that’s been helping me a lot,” Call said. “I have a lot of confidence in the defense. They are all like my best friends. We get along so good, and I know that I can trust them out there.”

While Call is dominating in the circle, teams should probably issue her a free pass if she gets up to hit in the sixth because she’s also winning that inning.

For the third time in the last four playoff games, she went yard in the sixth inning; this time, a third-run shot for the 8-0 lead. She also homered in the sixth inning against Tunkhannock and Northern Lebanon.

“Abbi is just lights out right now,” Hallett said. “She’s hitting all of her spots, and the defense is on. Everyone is just communicating so well.”