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Charlie Condon earns spot on Team USA, All-American squad

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•07/01/23•

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Charlie Condon
Kari Hodges / UGA Sports Communications

Need a bit of patriotism for your Fourth of July weekend? Georgia Baseball star Charlie Condon should do the trick.

After an outstanding season for the Diamond Dawgs this spring, Condon has earned accolades galore. He added to the list of awards on Friday as D1Baseball.com included him on their Second-Team All-America squad and named Condon national Freshman of the Year.

Furthermore, Condon hit .533 over the course of training camp for the USA Collegiate National Team to earn a spot on the travel squad. Among the 56 premier non-draft eligible players that competed during the camp in Cary, N.C., Condon’s batting average was best. He and Team USA got underway with a “friendship series” against Chinese Taipei in North Carolina before they host Japan the next week.

Condon is the latest Bulldog to wear the Team USA baseball jersey as a member of the national team joining the likes of Cris Carpenter (1987), Dave Fleming (1989), Brian Powell (1994), Clint Sammons (2002), Kyle Farmer (2012), Robert Tyler (2015) and Cole Wilcox (2019). He spent the first part of his summer playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Falmouth (Mass.) Commodores where he knocked in 10 RBI in 11 games.

Condon led the SEC in slugging percentage and finished second in batting average to Golden Spikes Award winner and national champion Dylan Crews, a potential No. 1 overall pick in this month’s MLB Draft. A product of The Walker School in Marietta, Ga., Condon won the team’s triple crown, leading Georgia in batting, home runs and RBI (.386-25-67).

Condon’s 25 home runs, which broke an SEC freshman record that had stood since 2006, ranks only behind Gordon Beckham from the 2008 season in program history when the Bulldogs reached the College World Series Finals. That team played 71 games. Condon and company only played 56.

During the season, Condon had a 37-game on base streak and 24-game hit streak. He hit a home run in each of Georgia’s 10 SEC series and leads the league for home runs in conference games with 16.

“Charlie is a hard worker and obviously very talented, and he comes to work every single day,” former Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said about Condon. “You look at him, and he’s got the skill set. He was 195 pounds last year when he got to campus. The idea to redshirt him last year was like a football mentality with an offensive lineman where you put some weight and strength on him and see where he goes. If you would’ve told me he was going to hit 25 home runs, I don’t know if I would’ve believed that. He did everything in the last 365 days to prepare for today. He’s a great kid and deserves it.”

Condon, who was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy – both of which go to recognize the top player in college baseball – had many Georgia fans concerned that he may transfer after such an outstanding season. After all, had he hit the transfer portal just about everybody in the country would have wanted him. However, after conversations with Georgia’s new coaching staff, Condon took to social media to announce that he was staying put in Athens for another season.

The Bulldogs missed the NCAA Tournament and moved on from head coach Scott Stricklin after the 2023 season, his tenth with the program. Going 29-27 overall and 11-19 in the SEC, its the fewest wins in a season for Georgia since 2017 when the Bulldogs finished below .500 but with the same record in SEC play. The last time UGA finished with fewer wins in the league was in 2015.

LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson was announced as the next head coach on June 5th before helping the Tigers to a National Championship in Omaha. Johnson has a staff in place already and has hit the transfer portal hard to add new and improved pieces to play alongside Condon on the 2024 Georgia roster.

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