JACE LAVIOLETTE HAS HAD A MAJOR TRANSFORMATION OVER THE PAST YEAR, WHICH HAS PUT HIM AT THE CENTER OF COLLEGE RECRUITING AND BEING A FUTURE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PROSPECT.
The 6-foot-6 lefty/lefty at Tompkins made the most of his time during the quarantine. The once-four tool star is now a five-tool athlete.
The junior can hit for power and average; he has a big arm and can field his position at first base or in the outfield.
Now he can run.
"A year ago, I was all about power," he laughed. "I was about 270 pounds and I've really worked myself into shape to 225 pounds. I was a big fat guy. I still have that power gap to gap, but now I can really run."
After his work is done at Tompkins, the name LaViolette will look good across his purple and gold jersey of the National Power LSU Tigers.
"It was an easy decision for me," he said. "I was born and grew up in Louisiana. It's always been my dream school and my dream became a reality. It all fell into place."
The "Big Smooth" played basketball until the ninth grade but saw his future was with the hardball.
"At that time, I had to pursue baseball full time," he said. "It takes coming out here every single day to put the work in. You have to work your butt off to get where I want to go. It's a 'no-days-off' thing. I'm just putting my foot down and ready to hit, no matter the velocity."
LaViolette has hit some jawdropping bombs at the high school level and for his showcase team 12 Baseball.
Outside of that, he's a country boy.
"I like to hunt, fish… anything outdoors," he said.
Which of course includes baseball.
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