Nice two strike hit from Kyle Valasek (Ward Melville 2028). Top Tier now has the tying run at the plate with nobody out. pic.twitter.com/HLcLyEOITL
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2025
Hearing that your young child has cancer is a nightmare that no parent wants to go through. However this was the reality that Kyle Valasek and his family faced 11 years ago. Through a heroic sacrifice from his older brother Jake, Kyle is now cancer free and is living a normal life where he has inspires those around him on and off the baseball field.
Kyle Valasek is a normal kid. He likes to ride his bike and hang out with friends. He loves sports and, most of all, loves baseball. The rising Ward Melville HS sophomore plays for the Top Tier Aviators and played on his junior varsity team this past spring.
At one point in Kyle’s childhood, this normal life was only a wishful dream. When Kyle was three years old he went in for a routine checkup and doctors noticed something was off. He was rushed to the hospital where it was found he had leukemia and needed a life saving bone marrow transplant.
“I didn’t really know what was going on, I was so young,” Kyle said. “There was only a 25% chance for my brother to have a match in bone marrow and luckily he was [a match] and he decided to go through the pain and get the bone marrow taken out and given to me.”
Jake Valasek was only around seven at the time. He said he remembers his parents having to stay with Kyle in the hospital and having to live with my grandma. When he visited Kyle and saw how sick he was, he knew he wanted to do whatever he could to help.
“All I remember is wanting to do it, a chance to save his life of course I would do it,” Jake said.
The surgery was a success and Kyle entered remission, but his story does not end here. Coming from a family that loves baseball, he immediately followed his brother and his father’s passion and began playing at a young age.
He joined the Top Tier Aviators when he was 12 years old after he got cut from his middle school baseball team. Getting cut would drive many kids to quit and give up, but not Kyle. His head coach Jake Lacetera, a former Long Island standout from Bay Shore HS who played Division II baseball at Barton College, said after Kyle got cut he began working out and got a lot stronger and in much better shape.
“Offensively he’s coming together very well,” Lacetera said. “He’s top four on my team in batting average, he’s hitting above .300. He understands how to hit, he gets it and he hits velo better than a lot of other guys.”
In the field, Kyle plays catcher and second base, mainly playing catcher on his school team while during the summer he focuses more on second base. Lacetera said Kyle has a “mental map” when he is in the infield. He knows where to be during every situation, something a lot of other kids his age struggle with.
“I think one of my strong suits is positioning,” Kyle said. “I know where I have to be and when there’s runners on I position myself in a spot where the ball [normally] comes right at me and I don’t have to make a tough play.”
Kyle is having all of this success on the diamond while also being one of the smallest players. Kyle, who is a month shy of his 15th birthday stands at a mere 5 feet 1 inch, weighing only 115 pounds. While some of this has to do with genetics as his brother and dad are not very tall, a side effect of childhood leukemia, especially in a patient as young as Kyle was is stunted growth.
Kyle said that while some people may look down on him because of his size, he does not let it affect him and he pushes through. He has even begun using his smaller frame to his advantage at the plate.
“When I’m at the plate I sometimes think since I’m a little smaller they’re going to attack with fastballs so I try to swing first pitch,” Kyle said.
One thing that Kyle will never do is complain about his situation. Lacetera said he did not know Kyle was a cancer survivor until his second year coaching him, not because Kyle was ashamed about it, he just never saw a need to bring it up.
“He’s a smaller kid…but he’s never said anything about it correlating, he’s never made any excuses about it,” Lacetera said. “I think it just shows how resilient he is, he doesn’t bring it up, he’s always doing his thing, he’s focused on baseball, he’s focused on his life.”
Jake, who played baseball through middle school said that growing up he and his brother were taught that their height does not not define them on the field.
“Growing up we were all really short so we had learned you gotta have heart over height,” Jake said. “Especially in baseball, I always tell him that height doesn’t matter because it doesn’t matter how tall you are, they still have to pitch to you.”
This past winter Kyle had to overcome yet another obstacle to stay on the field. He had a chipped bone in his shoulder that required surgery. He was unable to participate in his high school wrestling season and was not cleared to workout until one week before his junior varsity tryout. Lacetera said Kyle called him as soon as he was cleared and the two of them got to work. Lacetera trained Kyle five times in the seven days leading up to the tryout and he was ready to go.
Lacetera had no issue dropping what he is doing to help Kyle because he said Kyle does the same for everyone on Top Tier.
“He’s a very selfless player,” Lacetera said. “He’ll hit the ball the other way with two strikes, he’ll get himself out to get a runner over, he’s doing those things all the time. I know other kids notice that…they look up to him in that regard whether they realize it or not.”
As Kyle continues his playing career his brother Jake will be watching and giving pointers whenever he can. Jake said their bond as brothers is one like no other after all that they endured together.
“I’m really proud of how far he’s come, especially because I have these memories of him in that hospital bed all weak and frail,” Jake said. “Now he’s on the field, he’s got a full head of hair, he can hit, throw and run just like the other kids, it’s amazing.”
As for Kyle, he has a unique appreciation not just for the sport of baseball, but for his family and the gift of being alive. He has dreams of continuing his career at the next level in college, but for now he is focused on improving everyday and helping Top Tier make the Long Island Boys of Summer playoffs.
“I hope I can show my kids the appreciation they should have to be able to play a sport I love and hopefully they love when they grow up.”
