Class 6A Preview: Regions 5 & 6

Welcome to PBR Georgia’s 6A week!

We continue our Georgia high school coverage, now that we’re about 18 days out from the first pitch of the GHSA season. Today, we’ll continue breaking down the 6A class by honing in on regions 5 and 6, after covering regions 1 and 2 on Monday and regions 3 and 4 yesterday.

We kicked off our GHSA coverage last week by analyzing the entire 7A class. Here are links to those preview posts, in case you missed them:

• Regions 1, 2, and 3 here.

• Regions 4 and 5 here.

• Region 6 here.

• Regions 7 and 8 here.

• 7A Playoff Predictions here.

Keep checking back all throughout the week for 6A content spanning all eight of the class’ regions.

REGION 5

Another year, another neck-and-neck race for the top seed in Region 5. Last spring, both South Paulding and Alexander ended regional play with a record of 14-2, and even split their regular season series, 1-1. Neither team had much success in the state tournament, however. South Paulding was eliminated in their first-round matchup with Harrison and Alexander was eliminated by semifinalists Alpharetta after sweeping Lanier in round one.

Region 5’s two other state tournament representatives, Northgate and Creekside, also failed to win a game in the postseason.

The region is hoping for better luck this time around in the postseason, but prepare for a drastically different top of the standings come the end of this year’s regular season.

This spring, our staff is projecting the Northgate Vikings, a team that actually produced the best winning percentage (0.719; 23-9 overall) of last year’s Region 5 teams, to be the ones standing tall atop this group headed into the state tournament. Despite graduating a couple of key pieces to their rotation a season ago, the Vikings have the personnel in place to make up for the losses and then some.

With a staff led by junior Georgia State commit Reid Fagerstrom, Northgate has a legitimate ace to forge the path to better luck within their own region. Despite finishing tied with both Alexander and South Paulding in overall wins last spring, Northgate was two games behind both programs in the Region. Fagerstrom has the ability to change Northgate’s intra-regional fortunes alone.

He’s the No. 29-ranked junior in the state’s 2020 class and was among the top performers at August’s Peach State Games. There, the sturdy righty showed why he’s classified as a power arm – he sat in the 86-90 mph range and topped 91. He backed up that firm fastball with an aggressive slider/cutter and curveball. For Northgate, Fagerstrom also represents one of the team’s main run producers, as he’s packed with a ton of punch in the right-handed batter’s box as well.

Fagerstrom’s battery mate, senior backstop Connor Mask, was an all-county selection last spring primarily for his work at the plate. He hit .439 for the Vikings and flaunted his athleticism by snagging 13 bases. Fellow senior Shawn Ragan, an infielder, joined Mask on 2018’s all-county team. He was another Northgate bat to hit well over .350 (.386).

The pieces here help build Northgate’s case as arguably the top team in Region 5, though they’ll be challenged by a team, we believe, is set to turn some heads.

Reid Fagerstrom (8/12/18)

The Douglas County Tigers finished 14-11 last spring and 9-7 in Region 5 but are bringing back virtually their entire team from a season ago, including senior two-way star Parker Ball, who’s committed to Tennessee in both baseball and football. The southpaw is listed at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds and led the Tigers in Ks (72) in 2018, despite throwing 24 fewer innings than the since-graduated Weston Myers. Ball also maintained an ERA of 2.23 on the spring and is spearheading an inexperienced rotation this spring.

We’re accounting for an increase in run production from Douglas this year, which should help support a rotation that may need some time to jell. Junior Arty Leger hit nearly .400 as a sophomore last spring and should be able to go for extra bases more often with a full year of varsity experience under his belt. Ball can be relied upon heavily on offense as well, and it’s easy to see how useful his big frame can be in the left-handed box. And keep an eye on David Hart – as a sophomore last spring, he hit .329 and led the team in RBIs.

Douglas is capable of stirring the standings after we’ve grown accustomed to seeing the same two teams at the top these last couple of seasons.

Termarr Johnson (10/6/18)

A couple other prospects to take note of, both of whom play for South Paulding: LHP Tyler Clayton (2019; Georgia Gwinnett College) and C Bret Adkins (2019; Charleston).

REGION 6

The Knights of River Ridge, 2018 state semifinalists, are our pick to wrap up 2019 regional play as title winners. Their season was ended by the eventual champs Pope last spring and they’ll challenge them in a rematch in the second game of their spring season next month. The Knights are returning a healthy amount of Division-I talent to their dugout in 2019, including two top-15-ranked seniors: RHP/3B Brandon Smith (Georgia) and OF/C/RHP Ethan Anderson (Tennessee).

Smith will be River Ridge’s go-to arm in 2019. He’s developed a reputation as a groundball machine for his innate ability to sink a fastball. Smith is still searching for a next-level outpitch, but nonetheless he’ll be able to navigate through Region 6 lineups with relative ease.

As for Anderson, he’s a do-it-all prospect who’s going to play a bunch of different roles for the Knights in 2019. He can pitch, hit, catch, and play the outfield and River Ridge is bound to take advantage of that versatility this spring.

Any program would like their chances within a division race if they had the opportunity to pencil in a Smith or an Anderson, but the list goes on for River Ridge. The two aforementioned seniors are surrounded by talented juniors Kobe Braddock and Aaron Osada. The middle infielder Braddock is ranked within the top 40 of his own class’ state rankings. Braddock is a hard-nosed infielder who knows the strike zone and has a knack for the barrel – an ideal match alongside run producers like Anderson and Smith.

Osada is a Georgia Tech commit and a big 6-foot-2, 225-pound pitcher who’s been up to 88 mph in front of our staff. He’s a competitor on the mound and is only just beginning to harness a powerful curveball that works complements his over-the-top slot well.

And don’t forget about side-arming senior righty Lane Tengzelius. He’s a deceptive and uncomfortable at-bat and is capable of sitting in the mid 80s. Tengzelius is a luxury that most programs don’t have, helping clarify the reasons as to why we view the Knights as the Region 5 favorites.

Brandon Smith (5/10/18)