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By Olivia Saer
Georgia redshirt sophomore Charlie Condon (24) runs to first base during the final game of the NCAA Athens Regional between Georgia Tech and Georgia at Foley Field in Athens, Georgia, on Sunday, June 2, 2024. Georgia won 8-6. (Photo/Mady Mertens; MadyMertensPhotography)
In the ninth inning of Monday’s Athens Super Regional finale, Charlie Condon stepped into the batter’s box. After working a 3-1 count, he drove a pitch to deep right field. It snuck just over the outfield wall for Condon’s NCAA-leading 37th home run of the season. It was also a fitting way for arguably Georgia’s most prolific player to presumably end his time with the Bulldogs.
“You won’t ever find another Charlie Condon,” head coach Wes Johnson said after Georgia’s season-ending loss. “To go out and say you’re going to find another one of him is crazy.”
Condon had a less-than-storybook ending to his career at Georgia. The Bulldogs’ most decorated player finished just 2-for-11 in the series and is now expected to declare for the MLB Draft.
Going beyond the stat sheet, Condon hit the ball hard in Georgia’s Super Regional matchup. However, his hits found the glove of NC State’s defenders. In the Bulldogs’ game two win, Condon barreled a pitch 112.9 mph off his bat, but the Wolfpack’s third baseman snagged it for an out. In game three, Condon’s first at-bat resulted in a 109 mph lineout to left field.
“He hit some balls 112 miles an hour and got out,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think they neutralized him. I think what happens is, people get spoiled by this young man right here. It’s like, every time he comes up, you think he’s going to hit a home run. If he hits a ball 112 and lines out, he’s had a bad day.”
Johnson went to bat for Condon, who Georgia would not have been in the Super Regionals without.
“There’s a handful of people on this planet that can do that,” Johnson said. “That’s my take.”
Despite falling a game short of the College World Series, Condon helped return a Georgia team back to prominence, as the Bulldogs reached the Super Regional for the first time in 16 years. Condon also established a standard that next season’s leaders will look to enforce.
“The knowledge of guys like Charlie, Coach Wes, Corey Collins, I tried to take little things from each and every one of them to bring that back to next year’s team and go farther,” freshman Tre Phelps said. “That’s obviously the goal, to take bits and pieces and put it into the locker room for next year to be successful.”
In only his second season playing in games for Georgia, Condon broke the school’s record for single season (37) and career home runs (62). He also set the Bulldogs’ new mark for slugging percentage (1.009), career batting average (.410) and total bases (233).
However, against the Wolfpack, Condon’s bat was kept quiet.
Trailing by two, Georgia loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth of game three. With Condon at the plate, NC State opted to use its dominant freshman reliever Jacob Dudan. Dudan, who threw a couple of errant pitches in the bullpen, appeared calm and collected against Georgia’s SEC Player of the Year.
Dudan began the at-bat with a slider to the outside of the plate that got Condon to chase. Entering the game, the pitch had a swing-and-miss rate of 55%, which is about 25% more than the average slider in college baseball. For his second pitch, Dudan went right back to his money pitch. Condon was unable to check his swing and quickly got in an 0-2 hole.
The freshman went to the same spot for his third pitch of the at-bat. Dudan almost threw it to the backstop, but catcher Jacob Cozart made a diving backhanded pick to prevent a run from scoring. To finish off the Golden Spikes Finalist, Dudan used his pitch that worked the entire sequence. He threw a slider towards the outside edge of the plate, and Condon couldn’t catch up with it.
It was the first time Condon struck out twice in a game since April 27. It was only the 12th time he did so all season, and Dudan accomplished the feat using nothing but sliders away.
However, although it proved costly, Condon’s career at Georgia will not be defined by one plate appearance. Instead, it will be remembered through the countless record books he etched his name in while leading Georgia back to a national seed. Should Condon turn professional, he knows the Bulldogs’ rekindled place in college baseball is here to stay.
“This program has made a huge leap in the right direction,” Condon said. “I know for a fact that if this is my last year here, it’s in great hands. I’m always going to be around supporting this program, regardless of whether I’m a Bulldog next year or not. I know this program is going to be dangerous the next couple of years.”