ATHENS — It was a beautiful afternoon for February baseball. The press box windows stayed open as 67-degree temperatures and overcast skies greeted Georgia and North Carolina-Asheville in their season opener Friday at Foley Field.
It was the first game of the Wes Johnson era for the Bulldogs. The 3 p.m. first pitch represented only one of many changes initiated by the longtime pitching coach. He likes to play these non-conference games a little earlier in the day. The conditions that greeted his first Georgia team and the 2,504 people who showed up to witness history validated Johnson’s philosophy.
So, did the final result.
Though the 11-2 win was only the first among the 55 games the Bulldogs are guaranteed this season, there was much to like about it.
“We’ve put in a lot of work, and the guys were excited,” said Johnson, a 26-year coaching veteran who recorded his first victory as a collegiate head coach. “We settled down after the third. We came out and were a little nervous and trying to do too much. Charlie Goldstein struck out the side, and that kind of settled everything down for us.”
Georgia used three pitchers to strike out 14, with five walks. Charlie Condon still looks like Charlie Condon. The preseason All-American and certified slugger didn’t “go yard” in the opener, but his first of two hits on the day left the infield with an exit velocity of 119 mph. He also had a double and walked twice, so it was same old/same old for the sophomore from Marietta.
The same could be said for Goldstein. The left-hander earned the distinction of being Georgia’s Game 1 starter and did not disappoint. The only hit he allowed was a solo homer to Robbie Burnett to start the third inning. Otherwise, he had seven strikeouts and two walks in four innings.
“I’ve been counting down to this, every single day,” said Goldstein, a two-year letterman from Alpharetta. “Being on that hill and seeing the ‘Foley Faithful’ out there was amazing.”
But Friday really was about the new guys for the Bulldogs and their new coach. There are 28 newcomers, including 18 transfers, crowding Johnson’s Georgia’s roster. And those newbies also did not disappoint.
Mississippi State transfer Slate Alford got his Georgia career started with a bang. As Georgia’s leadoff batter, Alford launched a pair of home runs as he started at second base and later moved to third. Baylor transfer Kolby Branch started at shortstop and hit a double and scored two runs, and Florida Atlantic transfer Dylan Goldstein came off the bench to hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the fifth inning.
After the game, the team gathered in right field, and the Bulldogs gave their new coach a hearty cheer.
“Coach Johnson is a winner, and he’s super-positive, and it just feeds into all the players,” Alford said. “We’re just thrilled to play for him, and we love having him here.”
Said Johnson: “They were just congratulating me for my first win. But, you know, it’s like I told them, that just means I’ve got good players. We work and we get after it, but the bottom line is they’re good players.”
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