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Loyalsock’s Valentine made spectacular defensive plays in loss to Milton

By Jon Gerardi 3 min read

BERWICK -- All summer long throughout both the District 12 and Section 3 tournaments, Loyalsock manager Jake King would cite the team's defense as one of its biggest strengths and reasons it advanced as far as it did.

Yes, the Loyalsock major baseball team has a solid lineup that can hit and spark anywhere from top to bottom, but its defense makes solid plays when needed.

If any evidence of that was needed, all one needed to do was be at Berwick's Ber-Vaughn Park on Wednesday evening for the Section 3 championship game against Milton. Specifically, be at their seat in the top of the third inning

After Milton's Emmett Salwocki was walked, Milton's Peyton Swineford popped up into shallow left-center field. That's when Antonio Valentine, Loyalsock's starting shortstop on Wednesday, backpedaled and jumped to catch it and record the first out of the inning.

Then, with a runner on first after Cullen Reese had a fielder's choice to left put someone on, Brody Rhodes connected on a pitch that looked like it was going to drop for an easy single into shallow left.

Valentine had other plans.

The talented Loyalsock shortstop leapt and caught it as he fell, making an outstanding athletic play on what would have been a routine single for most players. It spoke of the talent Valentine has when he's on defense and how he made tough plays look almost easy.

"He's probably the only kid on the field that can make that play. Our normal starting short stop, I don't know if he makes those plays as much as I love that kid. Ant's probably the only player on the field that can do that," King said about the two outstanding snags by Valentine.

An inning prior, Valentine was part of a key play when he helped turn a 6-4-3 double play on a hard shot to him to record the second and third outs of the inning, forcing Milton into a three up, three down inning. He had two grounders to him for quick outs in the first inning to limit Milton's offense after it had scored three runs.

"He's pretty special. He's the same way in the outfield, he's known as the best outfielder in Lycoming County for a reason," King said. "But he doubles as a short stop and does a fantastic job there. He's just a very athletic kid."

That he is, and all the evidence you needed to see of that was on exhibit at Berwick on Wednesday. Loyalsock may have suffered a tough 8-6 loss to come up shy of advancing to states as Milton won the Section 3 title, but Loyalsock's defense was key in keeping it a close game.

And, while it didn't involve Valentine's superb fielding, another great defensive gem came from Loyalsock third baseman Maverick Garman, who snagged a fast, hard hit line drive right to him in the fifth inning during another three-up, three-down inning.

Starting at /week.