Johnson Proud Of Bulldogs' Growth In First Season
July 03, 2024 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Wes Johnson has been working almost nonstop since he arrived at Georgia 13 months ago, fresh off a long season helping LSU win the College World Series as the Tigers' pitching coach. A good, well-earned vacation won't be coming anytime soon, however, and the Bulldogs' Ike Cousins head baseball coach isn't looking for one. Between camps and recruiting, Johnson and his staff have plenty going on and plenty of positives to point to right now.
After leading the Bulldogs to a record of 43-17 — the program's best since 2019 — a No. 7 national seed and an NCAA Super Regional in his first season at Georgia, Johnson is energized and excited heading into this holiday weekend. He also coached with the Minnesota Twins earlier in his career, and the length of a college baseball season is almost nothing compared to the MLB schedule, he said.
"I coached in the big leagues for four years, and people think it's 162 games, but it's really 195 games because you play 33 in spring training," Johnson said Tuesday. "And in two of my four years, we won our division and made the playoffs, so you're pushing 200 games in about a 250-day window.
"If you're going to be good at this game, I don't know that you ever come out of the hectic lifestyle."
The Bulldogs went 29-27 in 2023, which led to a coaching change. Johnson and his staff brought in some new players that contributed mightily right away — like Freshman All-American Tre Phelps and transfers Paul Toetz and Slate Alford, to name a few — and saw numerous returning players have excellent seasons.
Sophomore pitcher Kolten Smith led the team in wins and strikeouts, with 73 strikeouts in 45 innings against SEC opponents, while senior catcher Fernando Gonzalez had the best season of his career, batting .292, driving in 53 runs and hitting nine homers. The list could go on and on, and then there is Charlie Condon, the record-setting star who was the best player in college baseball.
"I couldn't be prouder of our players," Johnson said. "Obviously, we could do a whole call on Charlie Condon. I've been around some great players in college during my time, but what that young man did this year was something I'll never forget."
Condon, the redshirt sophomore who is expected to go at or near the top of the upcoming MLB Draft, led the NCAA in batting (.443), home runs (37), slugging (1.009) and OPS (1.565), and was second in total bases (233) and third in on-base percentage (.556). Condon was Georgia's first Golden Spikes Award winner, as well as the SEC Player of the Year honoree and numerous other national player of the year awards.
Now that the season has been over for a few weeks, Johnson said the thing that stands out the most is the improvement he saw up and down the roster. He then listed about a dozen players who took their games to a new level in 2024.
"Just seeing the growth of those players, seeing their confidence and their game rise to another level, will be something I'll never forget," he said.
Georgia started the Johnson era with eight straight wins to open the season, wins in 17 of its first 18 games, and the Bulldogs were rolling for much of the season. Georgia had 10 homers through two games and wound up with a school-record 151. Condon was incredible, a must-see sensation, but he was far from the only Bulldog enjoying a stellar spring.
Johnson said he doesn't talk much about wins and losses, he focuses on the daily work that goes into being successful. Still, he and his coaches came into their first season with the Bulldogs with the plan of making the postseason. But they didn't plan on being a national seed and hosting a Regional and Super Regional, he said.
Last week, Johnson was rewarded with a new contract that runs through the 2030 season.
"This past season is one we will always remember," J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks said last week in a release announcing the extension. "It is a testament to the tremendous work that Coach Johnson and his staff did — and continue to do — in developing our student-athletes both on and off the field. Today is another great day for our program as we look to the future and watch Georgia baseball continue to excel under his leadership."
Condon, who became only the third player in NCAA history to lead the nation in batting average and homers in the same season, didn't just produce results with his play. His work ethic and discipline, and the results they produced, were seen by his teammates. Late in the season, Kolby Branch called being Condon's teammate a "front-row seat to awesomeness."
"I spend every day with him; I get to be in his B.P. (batting practice) group every single day, and there are things that I've learned from him, from being around somebody that's so developed and is possibly the No. 1 pick (in the upcoming (MLB) draft," Branch added. "When you're around somebody like that, you tend to get better. And he makes the people around him better."
Before the NCAA Athens Regional, Phelps said he liked "seeing what (Condon) does each day in practice actually pay off. You see it in the fall and in the spring leading up to the year, and obviously, we know how good he is, but it's the ability to go out and show it every single day and every single weekend at the highest level."
And while Condon's career at Georgia may be over, his impact will continue to be felt by his teammates who follow his example on and off the field.
"To see young guys like Tre Phelps go, Yeah, I know what it looks like to not only be a great player — because Tre's got that capability — but then, how do we handle it off the field? How do we work to maintain that? How do we learn to manage the distractions that come along with being a great player, and still continue to work and get better every day?
"Yes, Charlie's a phenomenal player, but those are the things I'll talk to future players about, probably more than Charlie's ability. Everybody knows his ability's good, but just the value he brought with the other stuff was phenomenal."
Meanwhile, Foley Field is in the middle of major renovations, including more batting cages and "a pitching lab," that will continue into the fall. While the workers are going hard to make it better, Johnson and his staff are pretty much "full throttle" until they get a little break at the end of July.
"Our biggest downtime is after Thanksgiving," he said. "When do I play golf? A lot of people get to play golf in the summer, but I play golf in the month of December. That's my time."
Staff Writer
Wes Johnson has been working almost nonstop since he arrived at Georgia 13 months ago, fresh off a long season helping LSU win the College World Series as the Tigers' pitching coach. A good, well-earned vacation won't be coming anytime soon, however, and the Bulldogs' Ike Cousins head baseball coach isn't looking for one. Between camps and recruiting, Johnson and his staff have plenty going on and plenty of positives to point to right now.
After leading the Bulldogs to a record of 43-17 — the program's best since 2019 — a No. 7 national seed and an NCAA Super Regional in his first season at Georgia, Johnson is energized and excited heading into this holiday weekend. He also coached with the Minnesota Twins earlier in his career, and the length of a college baseball season is almost nothing compared to the MLB schedule, he said.
"I coached in the big leagues for four years, and people think it's 162 games, but it's really 195 games because you play 33 in spring training," Johnson said Tuesday. "And in two of my four years, we won our division and made the playoffs, so you're pushing 200 games in about a 250-day window.
"If you're going to be good at this game, I don't know that you ever come out of the hectic lifestyle."
The Bulldogs went 29-27 in 2023, which led to a coaching change. Johnson and his staff brought in some new players that contributed mightily right away — like Freshman All-American Tre Phelps and transfers Paul Toetz and Slate Alford, to name a few — and saw numerous returning players have excellent seasons.
Sophomore pitcher Kolten Smith led the team in wins and strikeouts, with 73 strikeouts in 45 innings against SEC opponents, while senior catcher Fernando Gonzalez had the best season of his career, batting .292, driving in 53 runs and hitting nine homers. The list could go on and on, and then there is Charlie Condon, the record-setting star who was the best player in college baseball.
"I couldn't be prouder of our players," Johnson said. "Obviously, we could do a whole call on Charlie Condon. I've been around some great players in college during my time, but what that young man did this year was something I'll never forget."
Condon, the redshirt sophomore who is expected to go at or near the top of the upcoming MLB Draft, led the NCAA in batting (.443), home runs (37), slugging (1.009) and OPS (1.565), and was second in total bases (233) and third in on-base percentage (.556). Condon was Georgia's first Golden Spikes Award winner, as well as the SEC Player of the Year honoree and numerous other national player of the year awards.
Now that the season has been over for a few weeks, Johnson said the thing that stands out the most is the improvement he saw up and down the roster. He then listed about a dozen players who took their games to a new level in 2024.
"Just seeing the growth of those players, seeing their confidence and their game rise to another level, will be something I'll never forget," he said.
Georgia started the Johnson era with eight straight wins to open the season, wins in 17 of its first 18 games, and the Bulldogs were rolling for much of the season. Georgia had 10 homers through two games and wound up with a school-record 151. Condon was incredible, a must-see sensation, but he was far from the only Bulldog enjoying a stellar spring.
Johnson said he doesn't talk much about wins and losses, he focuses on the daily work that goes into being successful. Still, he and his coaches came into their first season with the Bulldogs with the plan of making the postseason. But they didn't plan on being a national seed and hosting a Regional and Super Regional, he said.
Last week, Johnson was rewarded with a new contract that runs through the 2030 season.
"This past season is one we will always remember," J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks said last week in a release announcing the extension. "It is a testament to the tremendous work that Coach Johnson and his staff did — and continue to do — in developing our student-athletes both on and off the field. Today is another great day for our program as we look to the future and watch Georgia baseball continue to excel under his leadership."
Condon, who became only the third player in NCAA history to lead the nation in batting average and homers in the same season, didn't just produce results with his play. His work ethic and discipline, and the results they produced, were seen by his teammates. Late in the season, Kolby Branch called being Condon's teammate a "front-row seat to awesomeness."
"I spend every day with him; I get to be in his B.P. (batting practice) group every single day, and there are things that I've learned from him, from being around somebody that's so developed and is possibly the No. 1 pick (in the upcoming (MLB) draft," Branch added. "When you're around somebody like that, you tend to get better. And he makes the people around him better."
Before the NCAA Athens Regional, Phelps said he liked "seeing what (Condon) does each day in practice actually pay off. You see it in the fall and in the spring leading up to the year, and obviously, we know how good he is, but it's the ability to go out and show it every single day and every single weekend at the highest level."
And while Condon's career at Georgia may be over, his impact will continue to be felt by his teammates who follow his example on and off the field.
"To see young guys like Tre Phelps go, Yeah, I know what it looks like to not only be a great player — because Tre's got that capability — but then, how do we handle it off the field? How do we work to maintain that? How do we learn to manage the distractions that come along with being a great player, and still continue to work and get better every day?
"Yes, Charlie's a phenomenal player, but those are the things I'll talk to future players about, probably more than Charlie's ability. Everybody knows his ability's good, but just the value he brought with the other stuff was phenomenal."
Meanwhile, Foley Field is in the middle of major renovations, including more batting cages and "a pitching lab," that will continue into the fall. While the workers are going hard to make it better, Johnson and his staff are pretty much "full throttle" until they get a little break at the end of July.
"Our biggest downtime is after Thanksgiving," he said. "When do I play golf? A lot of people get to play golf in the summer, but I play golf in the month of December. That's my time."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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