Credit to Kyle Stafford | Associate Director, Athletic Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M outfielders Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery have been named Preseason All-Americans by D1Baseball, as announced by the publication.
The Preseason All-America nod marked the second of the spring for the Aggie duo, who also garnered recognition from Perfect Game in early January.
LaViolette, who was named to the first team, was one of the nation’s premier freshmen a season ago as the Katy, Texas, native slashed .287/.414/.632 and belted a Texas A&M single-season freshman record 21 home runs. In addition to leading the team in homers, LaViolette also topped the 2023 squad in RBI (63) and stolen bases (18).
The sophomore, who was tabbed as a Freshman All-American by four different publications and named to the USA Collegiate National Team, ranked inside the top 10 among the SEC in homers, RBI and walks (48). During conference play, LaViolette led all players with an .835 slugging percentage.
Montgomery, who earned a spot on the second team, joined the Maroon & White this offseason after helping Stanford to back-to-back College World Series appearances. In 2023, the Madison, Mississippi, native hit .364 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI in 64 games. On the mound, Montgomery made 10 appearances and struck out 19 hitters in only 14.0 innings of work.
Among the Pac-12, the junior ranked inside the top 10 in runs scored (70), hits (82), RBI, home runs, total bases (149) and walks (51). Montgomery, who garnered ABCA All-America honors in 2023 and was a member of the USA Collegiate National Team, also registered 27 multi-hit games, 16 multi-RBI contests and closed the season with a 28-game on-base streak.
The Aggies are scheduled to open their 2024 campaign at Blue Bell Park against McNeese on Friday, February 16 at 6 p.m.