How South Carolina plans to pitch to Georgia's leading slugger Charlie Condon
A former walk-on, Charlie Condon has paved the way for Georgia’s success this season. Condon leads the nation in homers this season with 33 as just a redshirt sophomore.
Last season as a redshirt freshman, Condon was named SEC Freshman of the Year, Freshman All-SEC and second team All-SEC. In addition, Condon set the SEC freshman home run record with 25 and hit at least one homer in every SEC series.
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There is no doubt that Condon’s batting abilities help him stand out to rivals. While little have had success, South Carolina plans reduce Condon’s opportunities to create damage this weekend.
“When you hit .459 with 33 homers, 1.100 slugging and an almost .600 on-base percentage, yeah, I don’t think there’s really any way to get him out — there’s just not. So you’ve got to try to minimize his damage,” head coach Mark Kingston said.
Back in February against Michigan State, Condon hit three home runs in one game. Also, against SEC opponent Tennessee, Condon picked up a season-high five hits in one game. He’s one of those players that can do it all.
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While he’s definitely a power threat, Condon is also batting .459 and getting on base at a .568 clip. He’s walked more than he’s struck out this year with 41 walks to 35 strikeouts. And he’s only grounded into two double plays all season.
As it currently stands, Condon is the presumed favorite to be the top overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft later this summer. Rest assured, every at-bat he takes this weekend will be must-see baseball.
At the plate, his sheer talent is something that cannot go unnoticed by Kingston and the Gamecocks.
“You’ve got to try to do the best you can of limiting his impact on a game. And that’s really all you can do when a guy has those kinds of stats,” Kingston. “Those are the kind of stats that would make Barry Bonds blush. It’s incredible.”
