The Georgia High School Association has announced that opening day of the 2020 season will commence on Feb. 10. Programs were allowed to begin practicing in an official capacity on Jan. 13, meaning it's time for the PBR Georgia staff to break down the high school baseball scene in the state in the countdown to the first pitch thrown in 2019.Over the next several weeks, leading up to opening day, we will be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2019 spring season, touching on programs spanning multiple state classifications, counting down the official PBR Georgia Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Our Preseason Power 25 rankings coverage starts today.

Team: North Forsyth
Preseason Rank: 17
2019 Record: 18-14
Region: 5-7A 
2019 Region Finish: 3rd
GHSA Classification: 7A
Head Coach: Jim Cahill
Playoff Run: Second Round
Returning Starters: 8
Returning Pitchers: 7

X-Factor
Four year starters INF Garrett Staton (Samford) and INF Miles Hartfield (Georgia Southwestern) and three-year varsity pitcher RHP Anthony DiMola (Georgia Southern) will provide leadership and veteran leadership to a team ready for a breakout year. 

Rated as one of the top right-handed hitters in Georgia's 2020 class, Staton uses the entire field and drives the ball. At 6-foot-1, 185-pounds he is able to create maximum leverage to put his size and strength to work. Staton profiles well at the next level and has enough versatility to be used in a variety of ways, giving him a lot of value to his team. The left-handed hitting Hartsfield is a top of the order bat for the Raiders. Hartsfield plays to his strength which is his ability to make line drive contact to all fields and cause havoc with his feet. 

Garrett Staton

On the mound, DiMola will lead the pitching staff as the ace of the team. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound southpaw works out of a low 3/4 slot and can run his fastball into the upper-80s. What makes him a truly difficult pitcher is his delivery and breaking ball. Starting on the third base side of the rubber, he strides towards first base side, creating angles. DiMola's breaking ball is slurve-like with two-plane movement.

Outlook
Things are looking up for Coach Jim Cahill and the Raiders. Last year was, in a sense, a rebuilding year. Nearly the entire roster returns, eight starters and seven pitchers, meaning this is one of the most experienced teams in the entire state.

The pitching staff will be one of the deepest in the state, full of talented left-handers. As we detailed earlier, DiMola will be an X-Factor for the Raiders, but he will not be taking up the challenege himself. Kennesaw State commit LHP Garrett Sagro (2020) is another upper-80s arm that will form a formidable duo with DiMola at the top of the rotation. Joining these senior southpaws will also be LHP Noah Gilbert (Emmanuel).

Then you add in recent Florida State commit LHP Brett Barfield (2022) and talented LHP Jess Ackerman (2021). This gives North Forsyth a total of five left-handers who will no doubt see significant time this year. But it does not stop there either. RHP Michael Sills (2021) and RHP Baylor Homeslay (2022) are both capable of pitching in the mid-80s.

Michael Sills

Offensively, Staton and Hartsfield will be huge parts of the offense like we said earlier, but also returning starters INF Tyler Triche (2022) and OF Kaiden Ellis (2022) will have increased roles after outstanding freshman campaigns.

Not enough can be said about the depth of this squad, and the talent that the underclassmen bring. From having a plethora of left-handed arms, two future power arms in the stable, and youth who gained valuable experience last season, the North Forsyth Raiders are looking to make a run past the sweet sixteen this May.

Make sure to follow @PBRGeorgia on Twitter for the most-up-to-date coverage throughout the 2020 season.

Find more information on the 2020 Raiders below:

+ Full Schedule
+ Team Website
+ Team Twitter

Preseason Power 25 Countdown