Chad Sage, a 2006 graduate of Chestatee High and current member of the North Georgia College & State University baseball team, has been named to the 12-member 2011 First-Team Preseason Peach Belt All-Conference team, as selected by the league’s head coaches.

As a junior, Sage was a second-team All-Conference player, hitting .325 with 13 home runs, five doubles and 53 runs batted in. Sage, The Times’ Area Baseball Player of the Year as a senior in high school, recorded a .962 field percentage with 48 put outs and three assists from the outfield.

As the program’s all-time home run leader, Sage recorded double-digit home runs for the first time in his career last season, after producing eight during his freshman year and nine during his sophomore year.

Ranked 35th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll, and tabbed to finish fifth in the race for the PBC Regular Season Championship, the Saints will open the 2011 season at 4 p.m. Feb. 4, when they host Mars Hill College in Dahlonega.