The Florala Wildcats’ varsity baseball team put together a solid summer as they earned a 6-0 record.

“I thought we had a pretty good summer,” Wildcats’ head coach Tyler Zessin said. “I was surprised with how well we played.”

Coming into the summer, Zessin said he didn’t know what to expect from a young team.

“Honestly, I knew we were going to be young coming in and I thought we might play like that,” Zessin said. “We have three freshman taking over at spots and they have all excelled. Our seniors have really pushed the younger guys. Honestly, they exceeded my expectations.”

Zessin said he believes the Wildcats’ pitching staff will be the team’s strength.

“Our pitching has been better than I expected,” Zessin said. “Hagen Hughes has been throwing the ball harder this summer and he has picked up a second pitch. Hunter Adams is a guy that didn’t pitch last year because of an arm injury. Then we have our lefty Dixon Drakkar. Pitching should be our strong suit this year. We also have three freshman that have thrown the ball well.”

The Wildcats will have to improve in the field, Zessin said.

“Fielding is an area that we have to improve,” Zessin said. “That’s to be expected because we have brand new faces in the middle of the infield, at first base and at catcher. We have a lot of new guys and we have some guys in new spots. Then we have guys who are moving up to varsity and getting used to playing at this level.”

Zessin said that he had several players that had good summers.

“Hunter (Adams) has really improved and he is going to be a big senior leader for us,” Zessin said. “He is texting me all the time to get the key to shed so that he can go hit. He does all of the little things and he doesn’t miss an opportunity to improve. Another that I’ve been impressed with is Judd Goolsby. He is a freshman and he is playing catcher for us. He has really come a long way. Zane Weeks is another freshman that has a come along way. He has a chance to be our starting shortstop.”

Zessin said he was impressed with the summer turnout.

“The first day of practice we had 30 kids out,” Zessin said. “These kids were excited about summer baseball.”