Charlie Condon named SEC Baseball Player of the Year

Georgia Baseball superstar Charlie Condon has added another accolade to his growing list. After being named SEC Freshman of the Year last season, Condon earned the honor of SEC Player of the Year on Monday.

Condon has put together a record-setting season, breaking the program marks of Gordon Beckham for both career home runs and single-season (2008) home runs with 35 in 53 games and 60 over the past two seasons. With his 34th of the season that came against South Carolina, Condon set a new NCAA mark for home runs in a season in the BBCOR era (since 2011). He passed Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone and is just five shy of tying the all-time SEC record of 40 held by Brandon Larson, set during LSU’s 69-game run to the 1998 national championship. The all-time NCAA record is 48 from Pete Incaviglia (Oklahoma State) in 1985.

With a batting average of .451, 35 home runs, a 1.063 slugging percentage and 219 total bases, Condon leads the NCAA in each statistic. He also ranks third nationally, behind Travis Bazzana (Oregon State) and teammate Corey Collins, with an on base percentage of .567 and top-10 in runs batted in (75). Condon enters the postseason with an active 24-game hitting streak. He was included on the most recent watch list for the Golden Spikes Award and is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, both of which go to the nation’s top player.

Condon joins Beckham as just the second-ever Bulldog to win the award for player of the year, one that was first given following the 1993 season. Georgia pitcher Joshua Fields won SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2008, an off-shoot to separate position players and pitchers started in 2003. He is the only UGA player to receive that nod.

“I went on record last year, even before I had this job, coming into the Georgia series when I was at LSU, that he was the best right-handed hitter I had seen all year behind Dylan Crews. Of course I saw Dylan every day last year, and I still believe that now. I believe that he (Condon) is the best right-handed hitter in College Baseball, and I think all we’ve been able to do is show his flexibility and what kind of athlete he really is,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said of his star before the season. “He’s special. As a coach, to get a guy like Charlie, you hope to be able to get one every seven to 10 years. He’s special. He’s a top of the top first round guy, and you’ve got to be really good to do that.”

“It’s the old saying, it’s always awesome when your best player is also a great guy and people like him and gravitate towards him,” Johnson added. “He raises everybody’s game. Everybody looks at him, and you almost get the sense that guys are working and doing things because they don’t want to let Charlie down. They know how hard he’s working and what he’s got on the line, and they don’t want to let him down. He definitely raises the bar for the guys.”

Draft eligible after this season, Condon is widely projected as a top-5 pick in July’s MLB Draft with the potential to go first overall to the Cleveland Guardians. First up though, the postseason at Georgia – one that could see an NCAA Tournament regional return to Athens for the first time since 2019.

“It’s great. The team success definitely feels way better than the personal success,” Condon said after a series sweep of Vanderbilt earlier in May. “It’s always way more fun in the locker room after a win and a big series win like this. I’ll take that any day of the week over having a good game individually. For it to be together, it’s awesome.”

Georgia (39-14, 17-13 SEC) begins postseason play on Tuesday as the Bulldogs take on defending national champion LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m. ET, 9:30 a.m. locally in Hoover, on SEC Network with the winner of UGA-LSU getting regular season co-champion Kentucky on Wednesday.

More to Know…

*** Tre Phelps earned a spot on the Freshman All-SEC Team after coming back strong from an injury midseason. Missing time in April including parts of the Missouri and Texas A&M series as well as the entirety of Georgia’s three-game against Ole Miss, Phelps has returned to hit six of his nine home runs on the season in his last 10 outings. The infielder/outfielder has 33 RBI and would rank second on the team in batting average (.370) with enough plate appearances. He has struck out just 12 times in 35 games played (27 started), totaling 20 extra base hits and a slugging percentage of .722. Phelps was named SEC Freshman of the Week just last week for his strong series against South Carolina, helping Georgia sweep the Gamecocks on the road.

*** Catcher Fernando Gonzalez earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team for the second straight season. A starter of 37 games behind the plate, the senior has been affective both defensively and offensively. He’s had a career year with nine home runs, eight doubles, two triples and 48 RBI. In the field, Gonzalez boasts a .989 fielding percentage with 327 putouts and 22 assists. He’s allowed just two passed balls this season and has caught six runners stealing.