Although Milton High School’s baseball team is maintaining a winning record, Coach George Blake said his team is better than the record shows.
“We were a timely hit away in a couple of games and a play away from being 15-3,” Blake said.
VIDEO: Batting practice with the MHS Panthers baseball team
However, at this point in the season, Blake said his team is beginning to hit full stride.
“Guys are doing the right things at the plate,” he said. “So we are starting to execute to put us in that situation to win those ball games.”
While Blake would like to see further improvement at bat, he is pleased with how the varsity team has performed at pitching. In the outfield, Blake praised the play of Kobi Floyd, Chance Shell and Zach McKnight.
“The guys have taken a role and they have went with it and have gone out there and played great defense,” he said.
PHOTOS: Baseball practice with the MHS Panthers
Shell, who plays center field for the Panthers, feels the team is beginning to reach its potential.
“I feel like we are starting to reach our peak right now with swinging the bats, playing defense and pitching,” he said. “We just got to keep it up until districts.”
Earlier this year, Shell opted to take his talents to Alabama Southern Community College after signing a scholarship with the college.
In his senior year, Shell said he is enjoying his final season with the Panthers.
“It has been a good year, I feel like this has been my best year,” he said.
Fellow senior classman, Dalton Jernigan, who plays second base, agrees with Shell in believing his team is right where they need to be.
“Our batting average is going up,” Jernigan said. “It has been uphill since the middle of the season, we are looking really good.”
While the Panthers have struggled earlier this season against district opponents, with losses to Navarre and Niceville High Schools, Jernigan believes his teammates are up to the task.
Justin Barr, the team’s senior shortstop, also believes the team is coming around.
“Early, it was a little bit of everything we were struggling with, we couldn’t put all of the pieces together,” he said. “As of late, they are all starting to kind of mesh.”
Barr hopes to end the season on a high note.
“Win the last game of the season is always our hope, so if that is in the state finals then it will be in the state finals,” Barr said. “We try to play each game one at a time.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: MHS baseball team 'starting to reach our peak' (VIDEO, PHOTOS)