New Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson received some welcomed news with Charlie Condon’s announcement that Condon will remain in Athens and play for the Bulldogs next year.
Condon made the announcement on Twitter Saturday morning.
“After conversations with Coach Johnson and Coach Coggin (new hitting coach Will Coggin), I am very excited for next year at UGA,” Condon wrote. “Looking forward to another spring in Athens. I’ll always be a Dawg.”
The news is obviously huge for the Bulldog baseball program.
After the season, some speculated that Condon may transfer, perhaps seeking a NIL deal with another school. But that’s not happening.
Condon never placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal. With his return, it assures the Bulldogs of having a player who many experts consider the top right-handed hitter in college baseball next year.
Johnson spoke about Condon during his introductory press conference last Tuesday.
“I’ve had a couple of conversations with Charlie. The guy’s going to be the best right-handed hitter in college baseball next year if he isn’t one of them this year," Johnson said. "Charlie is doing great, he’s in the Cape right now. Everybody already knows, but he’s going out for Team USA, and hopefully, he’ll go out there and have a good showing to represent our country."
Having Johnson on board certainly gives Johnson and the Bulldogs a good star.
Condon, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound native of Marietta, was recently invited to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team (CNT) summer training camp where he will compete for a spot on the 26-man USA CNT roster. The camp will feature 56 of the premier non-draft-eligible college players. They will play a four-game Stars versus Stripes intrasquad series in Cary, N.C. from June 25-28 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The training camp series begins on June 25 at 3 p.m. ET. Game two will be on June 26 at 6 p.m. ET, game three on June 27 at 7 p.m. ET, and game four on June 28 at 6 p.m. ET.
A semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, Condon was named a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball earlier this week. He was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year in a vote of the league’s coaches. He captured the Triple Crown for the Bulldogs, batting .386 with 25 home runs and 67 RBIs. He set the SEC freshman home run record and ranked among the league’s offensive leaders throughout the regular season.
He was named second-team All-SEC and Freshman All-SEC. He started all 56 games with 29 starts at first base, 21 in right field, and six in left field. He posted a .992 fielding percentage. During the season, he had a 37-game on-base streak, a 24-game hitting streak and registered at least one home run in every SEC series. He is currently playing for the Falmouth (Mass.) Commodores in the Cape Cod Summer League.
