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Georgia baseball shares personal significance of CWS opportunity, faces NC State at noon Saturday

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Georgia baseball shares personal significance of CWS opportunity, faces NC State at noon Saturday


ATHENS – Georgia baseball has already shocked many across the country, but a trip to the College World Series could cement a lasting legacy as coach Wes Johnson looks to recompose the program.

The Bulldogs (42-15) are just two wins away from erasing a 16-year CWS drought. UGA will fight to raise some more eyebrows when it opens a three-game super regional series against NC State at noon on Saturday at Foley Field (TV: ESPNU).

A CWS berth would be a massive step for the Georgia program as it looks to move back into national relevance and stay there.

But for long-time Bulldogs like Corey Collins and Charlie Condon, the road to Omaha has more personal significance.

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Collins, who has been at Georgia since 2021, saw the program scuffle for three seasons. He experienced the Bulldogs miss the NCAA tournament outright in 2021 and 2023 and was there to watch the team suffer a heartbreak elimination at North Carolina’s regional in 2022.

Collins finished his first season on the SEC All-Freshman Team before statistically slumping his sophomore and junior years.

Then the Suwanee native found his stride – and health – again near the beginning of the 2024 SEC season and has been one of the country’s top leadoff hitters since. It was Collins who offensively willed Georgia into the super regionals with a two-out, two-run double to lift UGA over Georgia Tech in extra innings.

“It means the world,” Collins said. “We fell in love with this place the first day we stepped on it. We wanted to bring this back here for as long as we’ve been here. To us, it means everything.”

Condon, in his third year at Georgia, saw the heartache, too. The Golden Spikes Award finalist began building into his 6-foot-6 frame during his true freshman season and has led the Bulldog offense over the last two seasons.

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Condon has often talked about “bringing Georgia baseball back” to the glory it last had in 2008.

“It was really getting everybody to buy into what this program is and what it looked like before,” Condon said. “We really believed that for a very long time and that’s why we’re here – the persistence of this group, and the willingness to never quit and get better. This has kind of been the vision for a while.”

A trip to Omaha would only further establish the first-year coach Johnson, who is already Georgia’s only first-year coach to host and win a regional.

Johnson’s transfer portal prowess built a veteran team around the core he inherited in Athens, and then the head coach established a culture of belief and confidence within the team.

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Johnson was certainly confident in himself, using his systems to restructure a sliding program in less than a year.

“For us, it just shows that you can come in,” Johnson said. “I heard the term so many times when I got here about rebuild, rebuild, rebuild.

“You just know that you don’t have to rebuild — that you can go out and if you do your due diligence and run your models and everything else you can find a team that can win in your ballpark.”

Indeed, No. 7 seed Georgia has plenty left to prove against the No. 10 seed Wolfpack (36-20) this weekend.

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The Bulldogs aim to start proving things early against NC State ace Sam Highfill. The right-hander enters Athens with a 5.35 ERA coming off a solid performance in NC State’s regional.

Highfill surrendered two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings of work in a regional-opening win against Bryant.

Johnson plans to counter with sophomore right-hander Kolten Smith. The team’s strikeout leader is arguably Georgia’s hottest pitcher and will enter Saturday with a 4.41 ERA.

Fellow sophomore starter Leighton Finley has typically opened series for the Bulldogs this season, but Finley closed Georgia’s win over Tech after starting the regional opener two days before.

Smith only threw 82 pitches in Saturday’s regional win over UNC Wilmington before leaving with a forearm cramp.

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UGA is 3-2 against NC State all-time, including a 2-1 record against the Wolfpack in the 2008 Athens Super Regional to advance to the CWS.



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Georgia

How should cities use AI? This Atlanta suburb may hold the answer.

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How should cities use AI? This Atlanta suburb may hold the answer.


Business

Mableton, one of Georgia’s youngest cities, is heralded as an example to follow for its artificial intelligence policies.

(Illustration: Marcie LaCerte for the AJC)

When you think about the American cities on the cutting edge of technology, which ones come to mind?

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Maybe tech hubs like Austin, Texas; Boston; or San Jose, California? Maybe New York City or Los Angeles?

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Mableton Mayor Michael Owens embraces artificial intelligence, calling it an equalizer. (Courtesy)

Mableton Mayor Michael Owens embraces artificial intelligence, calling it an equalizer. (Courtesy)

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‘Allergic to file cabinets’

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Mableton is home to Six Flags Over Georgia. (Courtesy of Six Flags Over Georgia)

Mableton is home to Six Flags Over Georgia. (Courtesy of Six Flags Over Georgia)

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Mableton officials cut the ribbon for the city's first permanent office in May 2025 (Courtesy)

Mableton officials cut the ribbon for the city’s first permanent office in May 2025 (Courtesy)

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Zachary Hansen

Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He’s been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people’s lives.

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Arizona alum Damon Stoudamire out as Georgia Tech’s head coach

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Arizona alum Damon Stoudamire out as Georgia Tech’s head coach


Former Arizona Wildcats great Damon Stoudamire is out as head coach of Georgia Tech after three seasons at school.

Georgia Tech made the decision Sunday to fire Stoudamire, one day after the Yellow Jackets finished the regular season with an 11-20 record and a 2-16 mark in the ACC. Greg Gary will serve as interim coach. Georgia Tech, which finished last in the ACC, did not qualify for the league tournament.

Georgia Tech owes Stoudamire $2.6 million over the next two years, ESPN reported.

The Yellow Jackets showed promise in Stoudamire’s first two seasons. Georgia Tech finished 14-18 in 2023-24, highlighted by a win over Duke. In 2024-25 the Yellow Jackets went 17-17 and made the first round of the NIT.

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Georgia Tech was a disaster this season, however, losing its last 12 games.

Stoudamire was hired by Georgia Tech while serving as an assistant on the Boston Celtics staff. Prior to that, he spent five years as head coach at Pacific, where he went 71-77. Stoudamire previously served as an assistant at Memphis and Arizona.

He is the second ex-UA player that Georgia Tech fired as its basketball coach. Josh Pastner, now at UNLV, went 109-114 in Atlanta from 2016-23.

In 2021 Arizona interviewed Stoudamire for the Wildcats head coaching job. The UA hired Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd instead.

Stoudamire played four seasons at Arizona (1991-95), taking the Wildcats to the 1993-94 Final Four and earning First-Team All-American honors the following year as a senior.

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Georgia is No. 1 state for business, but can workers afford to live here?

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Georgia is No. 1 state for business, but can workers afford to live here?


opinion

While most states’ minimum wage rates exceed federal law, the Peach State has fallen behind.

An Atlanta rally in 2016 demanded a $15 minimum wage. Georgia’s minimum wage is still $5.15 in 2026. (John Spink/AJC)

By Christian Wise Smith – For The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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48 minutes ago

Georgia proudly claims the title of No. 1 state for business for the 12th year running. But if Georgia is such a great place to do business, why are so many of its workers struggling to get by?

On January 1, 2026, 19 states raised their minimum wage rates. California went to $16.90. New York City hit $17. Georgia? Georgia kept its state minimum wage right where it’s been for decades: $5.15 an hour.

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Raising Georgians’ pay should be a bipartisan effort

Christian Wise Smith is a former prosecutor and Democratic candidate for Georgia labor commissioner in the May 2026 primary. (Courtesy)

Christian Wise Smith is a former prosecutor and Democratic candidate for Georgia labor commissioner in the May 2026 primary. (Courtesy)

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Workers should be able to afford child care and rent

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FDR showed American an example of positive action

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