Prep Baseball Report

2025 Georgia Preview: Darlington Tigers


Prep Baseball Georgia
Staff

The 2025 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, excitement abounds throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Georgia.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in the GHSA or GIAA state playoffs, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Georgia. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews and by continuing our scheduled podcasts and releasing our preseason top-10 rankings in each GHSA classification and Power 25.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state.

Each week we will be releasing our Players of the Week, updating the top-10 ranks in each GHSA classification, as well updating our Power 25 overall rankings. One thing, especially, you don’t want to miss are our scheduled podcasts with guests from across the state, as well as the recaps and previews of the big games we’re covering.

*Please note the information has been gathered from head coaches across the state, based on their replies to the questionnaire we distributed over this offseason.

High School: Darlington Tigers
Head Coach: Matt Larry
Classification: GHSA Class 1A-Private
Region: 6-1A-Private
2024 Record (Finish): 19-11, First Round
No. of Returning Positional Starters: 11
Team Strengths: Experience from 2024. Pitching and Defense. 


TOP RETURNING PLAYERS 

  • 2025 RHP Joshua Butler 
  • 2025 RHP Julian Lowery 
  • 2026 RHP/INF Mac Cannon
  • 2026 LHP/OF Henry Ledbetter 
  • 2026 C/OF Beck McKinney
  • 2026 1B Braxton Stegall
  • 2026 OF Myles Twyman

TOP UNDERCLASSMEN

  • 2027 Thomas Hargett
  • 2027 Jackson Loy
  • 2027 Cooper Norris 
  • 2027 Evan Parton
  • 2028 Jayden Mathis 
  • 2028 Knox Merritt

TEAM OUTLOOK

The Darlington Tigers had a strong season in 2024, winning their region going 17-3. They have a core group coming back in 2025 that will be experienced, especially on the mound and on defense. Seniors Joshua Butler and Julian Lowery will be their leaders on the mound, along with sophomore Cooper Norris and junior Henry Ledbetter. Butler and Norris both have experience from 2024 that will be big for some of their underclassmen to learn from. Junior Mac Cannon will be one of their key arms out of the pen. They have Beck McKinney back from an injury he had in 2024 which will help out a ton in the line up and on defense. Junior Braxton Stegall will be a strong bat in their line up. There will be a few underclassmen that will need to step up in order to get back to the playoffs in 2025. Freshman Jayden Mathis is an intriguing prospect that will have a chance to earn considerable time as a freshman. Sophomore Jackson Loy saw time as a freshman last season which will be big for his confidence going into 2025. Sophomore Evan Parton will also be a new name for the Tigers that they will need to be successful in 2025. All together they have a good mix of upperclass leadership that will be able to lead the young players and strive to repeat their region title.


Find more information on the 2025 Darlington program below:

+ Follow them on X: @BaseballDAR
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Georgia, 2025 HS Team Previews


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Upcoming Events

SHOWCASE DATE LOCATION
South Georgia Preseason ID  1/04 Lowndes High School - Valdosta, Ga
Augusta Preseason ID 1/05 Augusta Christian School - Augusta, Ga
East Georgia Preseason ID
1/11 Infinite Vision Sports Academy - Flowery Branch, Ga
LakePoint Preseason ID 1/12 LakePoint Sports Complex - Emerson, Ga
Preseason All-State: Underclass 1/18 Infinite Vision Sports Academy - Flowery Branch, Ga
Preseason All-State: Upperclass 1/19 Infinite Vision Sports Academy - Flowery Branch, Ga
East Georgia Rising Stars ID (2029 and 2030 grads) 2/1 Infinite Vision Sports Academy - Flowery Branch, Ga
LakePoint Rising Stars ID (2029 and 2020 grads) 2/17 LakePoint Sports