On March 5, Andalusia native Tyler Wilson will be competing for a spot on a Boston Red Sox affiliated baseball team at the Red Sox’s spring training camp in Ft. Myers, Fla.

Wilson, a 2004 Andalusia High School graduate, was drafted to play for the Atlanta Braves and after four-and-a-half years, he was released to play with the Pensacola Pelicans, where he remained until 2009.

On Feb. 12, Wilson accepted an invitation to train with the Red Sox, where he thinks he will sign with either a team in Salem, Va., or Portland, Maine.

“I won’t know until the end of spring training where I am going,” Wilson said.

While with the Pelicans, Wilson appeared in 23 games, going 5-1 during the 2009 season. Wilson has compiled an 18-10-9 record with a 3.64 ERA in his five-year career. He has 225 strikeouts and only 99 walks in 187.2 innings. His average is .222 giving up 76 earned runs.

He moved up to single-A with the Rome Braves in 2007 playing in the South Atlantic League.

There he posted some of his best numbers, appearing in 37 games going 6-4 with a 3.40 ERA in 50.1 innings.

He struck out a career-high 70 batters while allowing 38 hits, 28 walks and earning five saves.

In the meantime, Wilson has been giving much of his time helping younger local players on travel baseball teams develop their fundamentals and mechanics.

“They are getting teaching I never had,” he said.

Given that playing for a major league team is great for the 23-year-old, Wilson said it can be stressful.

“It’s been kind of a frustrating road,” he said. “I’ve had some control problems, and I fixed all of that in Pensacola.

“Playing independent ball and it being a more relaxed atmosphere — it’s kind of made me enjoy the game more,” he said. “You get a different perspective of baseball and it’s going to be a lot more fun with the Red Sox. It will be a lot more fun this time.”

Wilson is the son of David and Michelle Wilson of Andalusia.