Brothers hit homers as Southside Christian baseball wins third straight state championship

SIMPSONVILLE – Brothers Carson and Tyler Boleman had never hit home runs in the same game during their three years together on varsity for Southside Christian baseball.

They sure picked a great time to do it.

Tyler homered in the second inning and Carson in a walk-off fifth inning Tuesday as Southside Christian beat Latta, 13-3, by mercy rule for a third consecutive Class A state championship.

The Sabres scored four times in the fifth, finishing the game on an RBI double by Kolby Sentelle to score Nelson Vaughan and sweep the best-of-three series. Southside Christian’s seniors, including Sentelle and Vaughan, finished with 100 victories in four years.

“We wanted to win it at home, especially for the seniors,” Southside Christian coach Scott Freeman said. “This was their last game on this field. … They wanted to end it here at home. They didn’t want to go to a game 3 (at a neutral site).”

Tyler Boleman, a sophomore catcher, hit a two-run homer during a four-run second inning for a 6-0 lead. When he returned to the dugout after circling the bases, he had a message for his older brother, the team’s ace pitcher and first baseman.

“I gave him a hard time,” Tyler said. “I’m like, ‘Well, you’ve got to hit one now.’ I can’t remember us ever doing that. Probably when we were really young, but not in high school. It’s awesome. It’s amazing.”

Southside Christian (27-7) was making its fourth straight appearance in the state finals and will move up to Class AAA next season. 

The Sabres’ five seniors in the starting lineup have been there since they were freshmen. Vaughan was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Sentelle had two hits and drove in a pair. George Massingill had a hit, scored two runs and stole a base. Cole Tarango had an RBI with a run scored and Cole Matthews had a single with a run scored. Other seniors are Matthew Mills, Brayden Shelley and Stephen Randol.

“I think the guys during the past couple of years have given us firm ground to kind of follow on through,” said Carson Boleman, who pitched six no-hit innings as Southside Christian won the opening game. “It’s what we do.”

“It’s been a great year,” Tyler Boleman said. “It’s a great program we're building, and I think next year is going to be the same thing, hopefully.”

NEW ROLE:St. Joseph's athletic director Eric Nash takes over as football coach

Todd Shanesy is a former award-winning writer who now covers high school athletics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail in the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at todd.shanesy@shj.com. Follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, at @ToddShanesySHJ.