« Baseball 2018

John Valente

School
St. John's
Position
Utility
Major
International Communication

Classroom

John Valente has been a model student-athlete during his time at St. John’s. After graduating with a degree in sport management, he enrolled in the masters program in international communication for his redshirt senior year and compiled a 4.0 GPA during his first semester of graduate study.

Character

An unquestioned team leader, Valente is a consummate role model and teammate. After redshirting his freshman season, he continued to put in hard work and eventually became one of the Big East’s top players. He broke into the starting lineup in late 2016 and ended up leading the team in batting average that season. A polite, well-spoken young man, he is often chosen to represent the program at external events and has never failed to live up to his reputation.

Community

Along with his teammates, Valente has volunteered for years at League of Yes, a local charity that allows children with disabilities to enjoy the thrill of playing baseball.

Competition

After leading the team with a .341 batting average as a redshirt sophomore, Valente picked up right where he left off in 2017. He began the season with an 18-game hitting streak and was batting as high as .533 in mid March. The New Rochelle, N.Y., native went on to bat .375 on the year, earning a spot on the All-Big East First Team and the ABCA All-Region Second Team. With just 14 strikeouts in 224 at-bats, he was the 12th toughest player in the nation to strike out and was the lone Red Storm player selected to the NCAA Clemson Regional All-Tournament team after going 3-for-6 with two doubles in the two games for the Johnnies.