Story byThe Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.

PIAA SOFTBALL: Four Lackawanna League teams in state semifinals

Scott Walsh, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.Sun, June 7, 2026 at 7:02 PM UTC·6 min read

Twenty-four softball teams remain alive in the PIAA semifinals. Four of them are from District 2, specifically the Lackawanna League.

“That’s awesome,” Abington Heights coach John Kelly said. “I’ve been telling everybody for years our district is the best district in the state. I don’t care what anybody says. All these other districts get four, five, six teams. There’s nobody better than District 2. I’m telling you from the top to the bottom in all our leagues, we have some really good talent. It’s great the rest of the state can see it. It only helps our girls and helps our area. I’m happy all of them won and let’s keep it going.”

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Abington Heights is in the Class 5A semifinals and faces Upper Dublin, the No. 3 seed from District 1, on Monday at 1 p.m. at Patriots Park in Allentown.

Defending Class 4A state champion Valley View meets District 1 champ Pope John Paul II in the semifinals Monday at 1:30 p.m. at Lehighton Area High School.

“We cultivate good softball here,” Valley View coach Mia Wascura said. “I think back to my time as the softball coach at the University of Scranton. I would always say to myself, ‘I just need to step right outside my backyard and I can find some of the best players in the state.’ We have excellent coaches and I think these kids respect us and respect our ways in what we want to accomplish and what we want to do.”

In the first game of a doubleheader at Hazleton Area High School on Monday, Holy Cross meets District 11 champion Tri-Valley in the Class 1A semifinals at 2 p.m. Then in the second game at 4 p.m., Mid Valley faces District 11 champ Pine Grove in the Class 3A semifinals.

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“Throw in teams like Tunkhannock, Lake-Lehman, Dunmore. Any of those teams if they had won could have made a run, as well,” Holy Cross coach Joe Ross said. “There’s some great softball being played in the Lackawanna League and District 2.

“I know I’m incredibly biased because I coach in this area. But you pay attention to the scores, you look at the brackets and you see some of these first-round (state) matchups. I know everything is based on the number of teams. But it’s kind of head-scratching that some of the teams that lose in our district don’t have the opportunity to go on. District 2 softball and the Lackawanna League, there are some great teams and programs that play in it.”

Facing each other during the regular season helps prepare these teams for the competition they will see during the state tournament. Abington Heights and Valley View meet twice in Lackawanna Division I. Holy Cross and Mid Valley play twice in Lackawanna Division II. Holy Cross also played Abington Heights, while Mid Valley played Tunkhannock and scrimmaged both Abington Heights and Valley View.

Truly a case of iron sharpening iron.

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“That’s five or six games against top-five, top-10 teams in the state,” Mid Valley coach Michael Piercy said. “It’s a testament to the quality of softball that we have here. The whole regular season is a grind. There’s really good softball being played.

“You say Holy Cross, Abington Heights and Valley View, they’re no stranger to being in this spot. All of us are well-run programs and we consistently put ourselves in position to reach these big games. It’s just exciting for the whole area.”

Added Wascura: “The beautiful thing about softball in this area is everybody is willing to share. We’re all in it together and we want to help each other. We want to fill our schedules with some of the best teams in the area. You don’t have to look too far to find the best teams in the state right in your backyard. It’s not hard to find some really good softball right here.”

Now, the four teams look for one more victory to advance to their respective state finals at Penn State University’s Nittany Lion Softball Park on Thursday and Friday.

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After defeating two District 1 teams in the first two rounds, Abington Heights will look to dispatch another in Upper Dublin, which is led by senior pitcher Kyla Garrison. The Howard University commit has more than 800 strikeouts in her career.

“I saw them on tape when I was scouting (first-round opponent) Upper Moreland,” Kelly said. “We know a little bit about them, we know how they pitch. They’re a good team, obviously everybody is good now. We just have to work hard and be ready for Monday.”

Valley View also faces a team from District 1 in Pope John Paul II. Behind the pitching of senior and Clemson commit Abbi Call, the Cougars posted eight straight shutouts and have not allowed a run in 52 innings.

“Pope John Paul is scrappy and they’re getting hot at the right time,” Wascura said. “They have a freshman pitcher who since midway through the season is giving them life. She has a curveball on the outside that’s flat and she likes to start with a few changeups. But we’re going to be ready. We’re going to sit back, stay behind the ball. Defensively, we’re going to ride Abbi’s coattails. We’re behind her and are going to play solid for her. We need the energy in our dugout to be up. We’re ready to go and we’re excited.”

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Both games at Hazleton Area are rematches from state playoff games last season. Holy Cross beat Tri-Valley in the first round, 3-2, on a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning by Ava Schmidt.

“They’re a really strong program. They’ve got good pitching and they hit the ball well,” Ross said. “We’re expecting a tough matchup. Last year was a battle the whole way. Both teams had multiple opportunities and both pitchers made big pitches when they needed. I expect a really tough contest.”

Mid Valley lost to Pine Grove, 3-0, in last year’s semifinals. The Lady Cardinals went on to capture the Class 3A state championship.

“I think it’s pretty amazing that the both of us got back to this spot,” Piercy said. “We’re definitely excited. We know them pretty well and they know us pretty well. They’re such a good program and have such good tradition and history there. It’s going to be a great matchup of two perennials in the state tournament.”