Expand<\/a><\/p>\nMaggie Hallett has the best view on the field for the remarkable pitching run Valley View senior Abbi Call has put together.<\/p>\n
Right behind home plate.<\/p>\n
The sophomore catcher worked the nine consecutive shutouts thrown by Call, a Clemson University commit. The Cougars have not allowed a run since the bottom of the fifth inning against Scranton Prep on May 5 \u2014 a span of 59 consecutive innings.<\/p>\n
They take that streak into the PIAA Class 4A final against District 7 runner-up Blackhawk (15-5) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Nittany Lion Softball Park at Penn State University. District 2 champion Valley View (23-3) is seeking to repeat as state champion and capture its fourth title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to catch such a great pitcher,\u201d Hallett said. \u201cShe hits all her spots, she never lets me down. Whenever she struggles a little bit, she always gets right back on it. She\u2019s just an amazing pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Mia Wascura said Hallett deserves just as much credit for the scoreless streak as Call.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo think of how far she has come as a person and a player,\u201d Wascura said. \u201cFrom a young, shy, timid, meek little freshman who had such an impactful role on the team. A catcher is a commander, a leader, a vocal enthusiast. Maggie at the beginning was none of them. But she learned how to be a vocal leader from Kalli Karwowski and Taylor Cawley.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor as good as Abbi is, Maggie is a master artist behind the plate. Painting the best pictures she possibly can to help us get pitch calls. Not often does she get the biggest recognition, but everybody on the team appreciates the player and person she is. You\u2019ll never hear her complain. \u2018Anything you need, coach.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It actually has been a trying season for Hallett. Wascura said Hallett\u2019s left hand is purple from catching the heat Call throws. She has other bumps and bruises, the result of foul tips and other demands of the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been able to endure by just continuing to work my hardest back there,\u201d Hallett said. \u201cIf I get hurt, I just play through it no matter what. I think that\u2019s how I can help my team. If I get a little bruise, I can just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Hallett had more than a little bruise when she and Call collided chasing a pop-up during the first inning of a game against Abington Heights on April 28. She suffered a concussion and as much as she didn\u2019t want to sit, she missed two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was scary. I had no idea what was going on after it,\u201d Hallett said. \u201cIt was really hard seeing everybody doing what I wanted to do. But it was great to have a little bit of rest because I knew I had to get healthy to be able to play again. I didn\u2019t want to hurt myself even more or hurt the team. But it was really hard to not be able to play the sport I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not coincidentally, Valley View\u2019s string of consecutive shutouts started when Hallett returned to the lineup.<\/p>\n
Hallett originally was a third baseman. But when Wascura saw what a strong throwing arm she had, she converted her to catcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really surprised. I was just going to help out the pitchers because they needed extra people to catch,\u201d Hallett said. \u201cSo I really didn\u2019t expect to be put in that position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do like it now. I\u2019ve started playing it in travel, too. It\u2019s fun to be able to do it in school ball and travel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides the job she does behind the plate, Hallett also is a key part of the offense. She bats cleanup and is hitting .316 (24 for 76) with eight doubles, three home runs and 18 RBIs.<\/p>\n
The relationship between a pitcher and a catcher is built on trust. Wascura said Call and Hallett mesh well together.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbbi has to be able to trust Maggie and Maggie has to be able to trust Abbi,\u201d Wascura said. \u201cOne can\u2019t be the best version of themselves without the other. And they are gelling at the right time. It\u2019s incredible to see them. When Abbi strikes someone out, Maggie is just as happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy assistant Justin Stevens calls a great game. But I have no problem if Maggie feels she needs to shake off a pitch and call something else. Maggie has the authority to do that because her IQ of this game is just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in the state final for the second straight year, Wascura\u2019s message to her players is \u201cDefend what\u2019s yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team (Blackhawk) really relies on their pitcher to propel them through,\u201d Wascura said. \u201cShe\u2019s got a good fastball, changeup, curve, screw, rise. She likes to hang out on that outside part of the plate. If that\u2019s the case, my kids are ready for it. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to run on Maggie\u2019s arm, they don\u2019t steal too much. They try to put the ball in play. One through five we have to keep off base. Bottom of the lineup, Abbi has to mow and can\u2019t waste anything. I\u2019m very confident and hopeful we play our game and truly defend what is ours. We want to defend that title. We want it another year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Valley View\u2019s Maggie Hallett (11) makes the throw to first base in the PIAA softball quarterfinal matchup in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-216867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Valley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/STT-L-VVSOFTBALL-0605-1-1.jpg\"\/)
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