Southeast Lauderdale coach Shay Cooper isn’t hesitant to extol the virtues of his pitching staff.  And after watching Zach Flaskamp and Dakota Boney burn through Choctaw Central’s lineup in Southeast Lauderdale’s doubleheader Tuesday, it’s easy to understand why.

Flaskamp pitched a two-hitter in a 6-1 Game 1 victory, while Boney tossed a one-hit shutout in Game 2 to lead the Tigers to a 10-0, run-rule shortened win.

“Flaskamp has been dominant at times when he’s been on the mound, and Dakota Boney has done well, and Ryan Smith has pitched a lot of key innings for us,” Cooper said. “Those three have been our main guys this point.”

The win moved Southeast Lauderdale (13-8, 6-3) to No. 2 in the Region 5-3A standings. 

Flaskamp struck out six, allowed one earned run and a walk to grab the win. Outside of a five-batter third inning, Flaskamp didn’t face more than three Choctaw Central (6-12, 3-6) batters in an inning in the contest.

Southeast Lauderdale didn’t waste any time placing runners on base in Game 1. In the bottom of the first inning, Brice Wilson doubled off the left-center wall, Ryan Smith singled to left field and Boney walked to load the bases. The bottom fell out for the Warriors when Tigers’ catcher Johnathan Polk drew a walk, which sent Wilson home with the 1-0 Southeast Lauderdale lead. Trey Carney connected on an RBI double in the following at-bat to plate Smith and Boney, and courtesy runner Caleb Todd scored on the throw to put the Tigers ahead 4-0.

Choctaw Central scored its only run of the game in the third when Speedy Lewis, who walked to open the inning, scored after a Zales Lewis RBI double.

Todd scored again after an error in the sixth, and Carney gave the Tigers their sixth run after a Choctaw Central passed ball.

“I don’t think we came out to play the way we know we can,” Choctaw Central coach Alaric Keams said. “With a team like Southeast, you have to come out strong to compete with them, and we weren’t able to do that tonight. But I believe we’ll be able to work on it and get ready for the postseason.”

With Southeast Lauderdale’s offense providing run support, Boney needed just 53 pitches to pick up the Game 2 win. He struck out seven over five innings. Polk only had two plate appearances but made them count, as he hit a three-RBI single in the third and a sacrifice in the second.

Wyatt Simmons went 2-for-2 to lead Southeast Lauderdale’s hitters, and Flaskamp, Wilson and Boney each added RBIs. 

The win puts Southeast Lauderdale on the heels of Region 5-3A lead Morton, and Cooper hopes the pitching addition of Carney, who pitched last weekend, will help bolster the Tigers’ pitching rotation as they make their late-season push toward the postseason. 

“He had a good outing against West Jones — he pitched a solid three innings,” Cooper said of Carney. “We were proud to see that. Hopefully, we’re going to get him back right here before the playoffs, as well.”

Up next: Southeast Lauderdale travels to Starkville Thursday. Choctaw Central hosts Union and also travels to Philadelphia Saturday.