By now, playing baseball is second nature for Southeast Lauderdale’s Dakota Boney. 

Boney picked up his first bat and glove as a 3-year-old, and for more than a decade, he’s adjusted to the nuances of the game. Now a senior, the Tigers’ pitcher and third baseman has clear expectations for his final season in Southeast Lauderdale blue-and-white.

“At the end, we want to be at Trustmark,” Boney said. “We expect a lot.”

With Trustmark Park — host site for the MHSAA baseball state championship series — being Southeast Lauderdale’s end game this year, Boney’s contributions up to this point of the season have helped the Tigers inch closer to achieving that goal.

In Southeast Lauderdale’s (7-4) three games over spring break, Boney tossed a no-hitter as the Tigers blanked Choctaw Central 11-0 last Friday. He needed just 59 pitches, and he struck out nine over five innings. Offensively in the Tigers’ three spring break contests, Boney went 3-for-8 (.375) to go with two RBIs, two stolen bases and one run.

“I’ve been seeing the ball pretty well and just trying to hit it in the gap,” Boney said. “And then with pitching, I let my defense behind me play and I trust them.”

Because of his stellar stat line last week, Boney was named The Meridian Star’s Athlete of the Week.

“It feels really good,” Boney said of the distinction. “I didn’t expect it, honestly, but it’s cool.”

Boney enrolled in Southeast Lauderdale Middle School as an eighth-grader and joined the Tigers’ varsity squad a year later. Initially a pitcher and shortstop, he shifted over to third base his freshman year. He’s been there ever since. Both positions have their perks, he said. 

“I like pitching because it’s eyes on me,” Boney said. “Third (base), you get a lot of action, a lot of hot shots hit at you, and you just have time to react.”

Southeast Lauderdale this year features a veteran-heavy roster with seven seniors listed. Boney said cohesion among the group has been strong ever since the players were underclassmen.

“We’re all really close,” he said. “We always go eat and stuff, and just bond together a lot.”

That chemistry, naturally, has spilled onto the diamond. Southeast Lauderdale catcher Johnathan Polk has caught Boney since the two were in the eighth grade, and if anyone knows Boney, it’s his senior catcher. 

“I trust him a lot with anything I throw,” Boney said. “He knows that I’ll do anything I can to throw a strike to him.”

Boney has signed to play baseball for East Mississippi Community College next fall, but before he heads off to Scooba, he and his teammates are solely focused on making his senior season a banner one for Southeast Lauderdale’s baseball program. They hope to conclude it with hardware this May at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. 

Tigers’ coach Shay Cooper praised his senior and acknowledged his contributions over the last four seasons.

“Dakota is a gamer for us,” Cooper said. “He loves to play and he plays hard all the time, and you want these younger guys to see that and hope it carries over to them after the senior class graduates. He’s been huge on the mound and had a great game the other night against Choctaw Central when he pitched. But he’s been like that every game he’s been in. Last Friday night was nothing unusual. He’s been tough on the mound for us, and now he’s leading off for us in the lineup and getting on base and hitting the ball well. He’s having a great season, and we’re thankful for that.”