Valley collects 14 hits in ‘backyard brawl’ baseball win over rival Burrell
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Wednesday, March 19, 2025 | 9:43 PM
Valley starting pitcher Dominik Dunkel threw six innings against Burrell on Wednesday at Valley High School.
Valley’s Niko Heakins steals second base as Burrell’s Ryan Bates fields the throw Wednesday at Valley High School.
Valley’s Dante Taliani tags out Burrell’s Stephen Hasson trying to steal Wednesday at Valley High School.
Valley’s Jaron Minford puts the tag on Burrell’s Bryce Hrivnak on Wednesday at Valley High School.
Valley catcher Alex Vagnier tags out Burrell’s Isaac Lacinski at home plate in the first inning Wednesday at Valley High School.
Burrell’s Ryan Wass tries to complete a double play as Valley’s Alex Vagnier is forced at second Wednesday at Valley High School.
The teams don’t share a section anymore, but Valley’s Dante Taliani said he and his teammates get just as excited for any baseball game with Burrell.
“This is a backyard brawl,” said Taliani, who doubled twice and drove in four runs Wednesday as Valley defeated rival Burrell, 13-3, for a nonsection win in New Kensington.
The game ended after six innings.
“They’re right in our backyard,” said Taliani, a junior shortstop. “It’s always fun to play Burrell and beat up on them.”
Valley (3-0) scored five runs in the second inning and six runs in the sixth. Those two long rallies accounted for 11 of the Vikings’ 13 runs and, ultimately, brought on the 10-run rule.
Valley collected 14 hits in all.
“They had good swings, good contact at the plate,” Valley coach Jim Basilone said. “It’s always fun (for the players) playing those guys because they know each other.”
Taliani broke the game open in the second inning with a two-out, bases-clearing double into the right-field corner to lead 6-0. He added an RBI double to right in the sixth.
The Vikings combined for 10 hits in their two big innings.
Valley sophomore right-hander Dom Dunkel scattered eight hits, struck out five and walked two for the six-inning win.
Burrell (0-1) was playing its season opener.
The Bucs used four pitchers in six innings, starting with senior lefty Stevie Hasson, who gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings. If there was any consolation for the Bucs, it was that they made Valley earn its runs.
Burrell pitchers allowed only two walks and hit one batter.
“Freebies is a big word that we use,” said Burrell coach Jay Miller, who counts the number of walks and hit batters allowed, errors by his fielders and strikeouts by his hitters. “Those are all ‘freebies.’ We only had 10 of those today. Typically, if you keep that number below 10 or 12, you’re going to be very successful. But when you give up double-digit hits, that’s how it goes.”
Valley leadoff batter Niko Heakins scored four times, and Julian Danko and Ben Mehalick scored twice each. Danko drove in three runs. Mehalick and Conrad Hoover had two-run singles in the sixth.
“We’re hot, but it’s not just a big hot streak,” Taliani said. “That’s our team. We can hit well. That’s who we are.”
Valley also scored one run in the first and fourth innings.
Burrell scored two runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth. Trey Coury doubled and scored in the fourth for the team’s only extra-base hit. The Bucs nearly scored the game’s first run, but Heakins in center combined with catcher Alex Vagnier to throw out a runner at the plate in the first inning.
A walkoff single in the sixth by Valley’s Brady Moore scored Hoover and pushed Valley’s lead to 10 runs. Moore’s single was Valley’s sixth hit in the inning.
“Starting with first-pitch strikes is crucial, and we started behind in a lot of counts,” Miller said. “When you get behind, you’ve got to throw fastballs. When you throw fastballs, that’s what everyone looks to hit.”
The teams shared a section last season and split two regular-season games. This year, Valley moved up to Class 4A while Burrell remained in 3A.
Still, they kept each other on the schedule.
“This is the game you want,” Miller said. “We were all excited about this game. We were all pumped up on the bus. Everybody was pumped up the day before in practice. It’s a big game for us. We want this game badly. It just didn’t go our way today.”
Basilone said he was mostly pleased that Valley improved to 3-0. But he accepted that this win over Burrell surely meant more to his Valley players than the first two.
“For me, it’s just another game. For these guys, it’s huge,” Basilone said. “It’s bragging right for the year.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
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