Larry Brown Sports

San Diego Padres outfielder Will Venable made the catch of the year at a crucial time during his team’s win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. With two outs and a runner on second, Juan Perez stung a ball to center field that looked like it was going to get over Venable’s head for a walk-off hit. The 30-year-old outfielder had other plans.

Venable went full extension and dove onto the warning track to make an amazing catch. The Padres went on to score two runs in the top of the 13th and win the game.

The grab was similar to the one this Minnesota Twins minor leaguer made last week, only Venable’s incredible play saved the game in the 12th inning. For that, he currently holds the crown for “Catch of the Year.”

Baltimore Orioles shortstop JJ Hardy cannot catch a break when his team hosts the Los Angeles Angels. No matter who is playing center field for LA, Hardy can’t seem to put enough power behind the ball to get it over the fence. When you face outfielders with the defensive ability of Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout, that can happen.

During the first inning of his team’s 3-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday, Hardy smoked a ball to center field that looked like it had enough to leave the yard. Instead, Bourjos timed his jump perfectly and reached completely over the fence to pull the ball back in.

The play was amazing, but the situation was even more mind-boggling. Almost exactly a year ago, on June 28, Trout was playing center field in Baltimore when he took a home run away from Hardy. To make the coincidence even more incredible, that play also took place in the bottom of the first inning.

Moral of the story: hit the ball to right field. Josh Hamilton is a decent fielder, but Hardy clearly doesn’t have a chance against Bourjos or Trout.

Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Byron Buxton made one of the sickest catches you will see this season.

Buxton, the center fielder for the low Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, made a diving catch on the warning track to rob Kane County’s David Boke of an extra-base hit during the top of the second inning of his team’s 6-2 win on Monday. Buxton also reportedly made another great catch in the first inning.

In addition to his amazing defense, Buxton, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and 3 RBIs. He is now batting .350/.444/.578 through 58 games with the Kernels, which leads the Midwest League in all three categories.

Buxton is battling Miguel Sano for the billing of top prospect in the Twins’ organization. Between the two of them, I’m thinking the rebuilding process in Minnesota won’t be so bad.

Check out some more amazing plays we have shown you this season.

Forearm bash to Baseball America

Durham Bulls shortstop Tim Beckham scored one of the most amazing runs you will see on Friday night when he juked Scranton catcher Jeff Farnham and avoided being tagged — twice.

The throw to home plate from the outfield was right on target and it appeared Farnham would be able to get the tag down in time. Beckham slipped it by executing a backdoor slide, only his hand came nowhere close to touching the plate. He then sprung up, danced around Beckham and dove at the plate. Farnham probably didn’t even have enough time to process what had happened, and who can blame him?

Beckham’s run may not have been quite as impressive as this amazing game-winning slide or that hurdle we showed you from a high school game last week, but you will probably never see anything like it again. Durham went on to win 8-4.

California high school baseball player Sean Nicholson scored an incredible run during a CIF playoff game earlier this week when he hurdled the catcher before tagging home plate on his landing.

Nicholson’s Franklin (Elk Grove, Calif.) High School had the bases loaded against top seed Davis on Monday and got a single to right. Nicholson was on second and tried scoring on the hit. The throw home beat him, so Nicholson improvised and went Willie Mays Hayes. “I told you I wasn’t going to slide!”

Franklin won the game 12-3.

Franklin High also shared this awesome photo of the hurdle:

He’s safe!!! Check out this picture of Sean Nicholson leaping the catcher to score in the 7th inning last night. twitter.com/FHSAthletics2/…

— FHS Athletics (@FHSAthletics2) May 21, 2013

So, how does Nicholson’s hurdle compare to Tony Campana’s awesome dive? And what about this amazing slide? It’s definitely up there. He deserves a lot of credit for his quick reaction.

H/T Prep Rally via SI Hot Clicks

College and high school athletes make just as many spectacular plays as the pros. There just aren’t as many cameras rolling when they do. Fortunately, that was not the case during Sunday’s college softball game between Boston College and Georgia Tech.

BC senior outfielder Maria Pandolfo made an amazing catch to rob a home run during the Eagles’ 12-3 series-sweeping win, and someone standing in center field caught it on camera. You could practically hear the air leaving her lungs as she extended over the wall and somehow pulled the ball back in.

We are used to seeing MLB players rob home runs and make diving catches, but it’s a bonus when we get to see college softball players going all-out and lighting up the highlight reel. Bravo, Maria.

Video via Bob’s Blitz

Mike Trout has only been in the majors for less than two full seasons, but he has already made more amazing catches than most players will make throughout their entire careers. On Tuesday night, he was at it again as he saved the game for the Los Angeles Angels in the 9th inning against the Texas Rangers.

With the score tied 4-4 and a runner on third in the top of the 9th, Adrian Beltre ripped a line-drive down the left field line that appeared certain to get down for extra bases. Instead, Trout made an outstanding catch and preserved the tie. The Angels went on to win 5-4 in the 11th inning, and Beltre joked after the game that LA had an unfair advantage.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it,” he said, via Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s not fair to have 3 center fielders playing the outfield.”

Trout, who is one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball, was playing left field. Peter Bourjos — also a tremendous outfielder — started the game in center.  Josh Hamilton was in right. If Beltre thinks he was robbed, he should ask some of his fellow players how they felt after Trout did this to them. Or this. Or this.