Georgia
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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It can be hard to find a truly unique experience for your next vacation. That’s where Travel + Leisure comes in.
Back in May, members of the publication’s team created a list in celebration of America’s 250th Fourth of July, highlighting a unique experience in each state “from hidden gems to iconic highlights and editor-approved favorites.”
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Most unique experience in Georgia
The Georgia spot highlighted was the World of Quercus. Here’s what writer Lydia Mansel said about it:
“The 3,800-acre property, dotted with pecan groves and cabins, isn’t your run-of-the-mill retreat. Guests are encouraged to roam the land by golf cart or on foot, visit the biodynamic vegetable garden, fish the Flint River, and connect with the ranch’s horses. Owned by Chiara Visconti di Modrone and her husband Angelos Pervanas, Quercus is a place where relaxation comes in many forms—and you can design your experience to fit your pace and preferences.”
Where is Quercus?
Quercus is in Gay at 208 Caldwell St. It’s about 30 miles east of LaGrange and over 50 miles south of Atlanta.
How much is Quercus per night?
The Sylva, Ember, and Cypress cabins are $2,700 per night. The Naya cabin is $4,500 per night.
Unique experiences in the South
- Alabama: Freedom Monument Sculpture Park
- Florida: Greater Florida Everglades
- Georgia: Quercus
- Kentucky: Kentucky African American Heritage Trail
- Louisiana: New Orleans Museum of Art
- Missouri: Anheuser-Busch Brewery
- Mississippi: Vikin’s Mississippi Delta Explorer
- North Carolina: Good Hot Fish
- South Carolina: Casual Crabbing with Tia
- Tennessee: Blackberry Farm
- Virginia: Chincoteague Island
- West Virginia: New River Gorge National Park
Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for USA Today. Find him on Instagram @miguelegoas and email at mlegoas@gannett.com.
APPLING COUNTY, Ga. (WCYB) — The co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville has been arrested in Georgia, according to a report obtained by News 5.
Earlier this week, News 5 told you about the dealership in Greeneville that abruptly shut down last month.
This has left homeowners with partially built homes and employees without jobs.
It is not yet clear why Richard Altman was taken into custody.
This is a developing story.
Georgia
Georgia Supreme Court upholds convictions of men in deadly shooting during gas station carjacking
Two men found guilty of murdering a man while he was pumping air into his tires at a Georgia gas station will remain in prison, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.
Miles Chatezal Collins and Josiah Hughley, Jr. had appealed to the state’s highest court after they were found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, violating Georgia’s Street Gang, Terrorism and Prevention Act, and hijacking a motor vehicle, among other charges in 2025.
The men’s charges stem from a shooting on July 10, 2022, at a QuickTrip gas station in Peachtree Corners. According to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, 30-year-old Bradley Lamar Coleman had stopped at the gas station to fill up his tires when Collins, Hughley, and a third man pulled up beside him and tried to steal his Dodge Charger.
When Coleman tried to stop the men, officials say they shot him and fled the scene.
Authorities say the three men were members of the Blood gang and had tried to steal the car to increase their status.
While their first trial ended in a mistrial due to a comment by the prosecution, a jury found Collins, Hughley, and their co-defendant, David Jarrad Booker, guilty of more than a dozen charges in 2025. They were each sentenced to life plus 145 years in prison.
In Collins and Hughley’s appeal to the state Supreme Court, they argued that there was insufficient evidence to support some of the charges and that the judge in the case improperly admitted certain evidence and committed errors in instructing the jurors.
The justices’ rulings disagreed, finding that their attorneys failed to object to the supposed errors and that the two men’s claims were insufficient.
The judges also found that a claim by Hughley that his counsel failed him by not asserting that a statement made to law enforcement should have been suppressed. With those findings, the Supreme Court chose not to overrule the case, letting the convictions and sentences stand.
“We are grateful for this affirmation from the Georgia Supreme Court,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Thanks to the incredible work of our team of trial and appellate prosecutors, and all of the staff that assisted with defending these convictions, two dangerous criminals will remain in prison.”
Booker’s appeal remains pending.
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