A-K Valley WPIAL baseball playoff capsule: Games for Tuesday, May 16, 2023

By: Bill Hartlep
Monday, May 15, 2023 | 2:26 PM

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WPIAL baseball playoffs

Class 3A

Preliminary round

16-Valley (10-10) vs. 17-Burrell (7-9)

6 p.m. Tuesday at Highlands

Winner plays: 1-Riverside (17-0) Thursday in quarterfinals at Seneca Valley, 6:30 p.m.

Players to watch: Wesley Schrock, Valley; Isaac Lasinski, Burrell

Extra bases: The Section 3-3A rivals finished in a three-way tie for fourth place at 5-7 with Derry (7-10). Burrell swept the two-game series during the regular season with 7-2 and 7-5 wins March 27-28. … Valley finished the season on a five-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 34-19 in that span. Schrock tossed a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts in a 5-2 win over Brownsville last week. Tyler Danko was 3 for 3 with a triple. Jacob Staraniec and Niko Heakins also have been key on the mound and at the plate this season for the Vikings. Valley went 1-9 in section play last season and fell short of the playoffs. The Vikings’ last playoff win was a 5-1 first-round victory over Mohawk in 2021. … Burrell snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 17-5 win over Deery Lakes in the section finale last week. Lasinski knocked in four runs, Justin Hyland had three RBIs and Ryan Scheftic was 3 for 4 against the Lancers. The Bucs dropped down from Class 4A this season. The Bucs’ last playoff win was a 10-2 first-round victory over McGuffey in 2019.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Valley