There are probably conflicting opinions because the process is different for everyone. The important thing is to be prepared/educated when schools start showing an interest. For kids playing on the top teams of prominent national programs, that might mean 8th grade. For kids at the next level down, that's probably 9th or 10th grade. For kids who aren't going to play mid-major or above, you're still probably looking at 11th and 12th grade. Of course there's nothing wrong with educating yourself early. Many of us don't know what level of college ball our kids will play until the college market tells us.
How many Georgia 2018 commits do you know about? There are only 2 listed on the PG website. Always curious about how many people post it there.
My ear is to the class of 2020. Four have been offered in North Georgia, none have committed. There was an interesting article on Prep Baseball back in April (so these kids were in 9th grade) they ranked the top 50 2018 players, why rank 9th graders you ask?
"11 of the top 50 prospects have pledged to top-level programs across the country, with several others sitting on offers."