When it comes to the arms race, the only thing that could limit St. Aloysius is the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START.

And don’t plan on St. Al baseball coach Clint Wilkerson signing his name onto that document.

The Flashes will bring what is arguably Class 1A’s deepest pitching staff into the South State title series starting Thursday at Chester Willis Field in Natchez.

There’s Stephen Evans, who delivered the winning decision in the first round against Edinburg ace Mitchell Wooten on two days of rest and who dominated Nanih Waiya in Game 1 of the second-round sweep.

The senior, who has a 9-4 record and a 3.50 ERA, will get the start in Game 1 against Cathedral.

Then there’s fellow senior Ryno Martin-Nez (1-0). In his first start on the hill after returning from knee surgery, he scattered six hits in a six-inning, 87-pitch masterpiece in Saturday’s series-clinching victory against Nanih Waiya.

“It’s a huge confidence-builder knowing that he has still got it and he can throw strikes,” Evans said of Martin-Nez’s effort.

Most Class 1A teams have two pitchers. Maybe three. But that doesn’t begin to encompass this staff.

Regan Nosser, another senior, was strong as the Flashes’ No. 2 starter for much of the season with a 5-1 record, 37 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA. He has yet to throw in the playoffs. Stephen Evans’ younger brother, Reed, who has been dominant in starts against Mize in the regular season and a Game 2 victory against Edinburg at Bazinsky Field, is another arm. He is 2-0 in 181⁄3 innings pitched with a 2.53 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

Add to the mix Josh Eargle (152⁄3 innings pitched, 3.13 ERA) plus seniors Pierson Waring (132⁄3 innings pitched, 4.10 ERA) and Blake Haygood (two innings pitched, three strikeouts) and you have exactly what St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson wants, a complete staff.

“I feel like what a lot of guys do is work with one or a couple of guys and hope that they can carry them,” Wilkerson said. “A lot of people don’t build staffs. I’m a big believer in you’ve got to have arms. You might have an injury or you might have a guy who doesn’t throw well. We’ve got a good many innings out of a lot of people this year.”

Being a pitcher under Wilkerson isn’t easy. There’s the offseason tossing sessions, weight-lifting and most importantly, core work that tests endurance and pain tolerance with medicine balls and other implements of torture masquerading as exercise. Despite the late start to the season, the St. Al pitchers spent all of January on their own getting their arms ready for the games that matter in April and May.

“We work hard in the bullpen,” Nosser said. “Every spot we miss in the bullpen, we have to run repeats, which consist of running laps or running foul poles to make sure we hit our spots.”

Wilkerson’s philosophy is a simple one: throw strikes and locate them down in the strike zone to feed the infield a steady diet of groundball outs. Strikeouts are nice, but not essential.

“That’s the way we’re going to be successful,” Wilkerson said. “I hate walks. Keep the balls down in the zone, play defense, that’s the key to our

success. Make them hit their way on.”

When the Flashes went through a midseason 2-6 skid that included a sweep by Cathedral, struggles on the mound were the primary factor behind their demise.

“We went through a spell where we weren’t throwing strikes,” Wilkerson said of the Flashes’ slump. “When you’re not throwing strikes, you’re going to have errors because your defense is going to become lackadaisical. They become tense. They’re playing a waiting game. That’s when errors happen.

“But when you’re pounding the strike zone, the ball is flying off the bat and you’re making plays, your errors become minimal. We’re not a team that can field a ground ball every now and then. We want to be active defensively.”

But now, after several solid outings, the Flashes are riding a wave of confidence going into the South State series with their archrivals. Also, if the series goes to a Game 3, the pitching depth will give them a decided advantage.

“It helps us tremendously,” Nosser said. “We’ve got three senior pitchers who have pitched a lot and you’ve got Reed who fills it up well. In this series, we’re going to have to be more locked-in, pitching-wise, than we’ve been all year.”