Brighton Baseball, Community Rally as Coach Comes Back Strong from Health Scare
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
July 13, 2022
At first, Charlie Christner thought it was a case of heartburn.
It was Jan. 12. He had taught social studies at Scranton Middle School for five hours and now was beginning his prep hour by preparing for his other job as baseball coach at Brighton High School.
“I was actually … in my last hour (of) the day, and just started having heartburn,” he said.
So he made a quick trip to a nearby store to get an over-the-counter heartburn remedy.
“I wanted something to help me before I went to (offseason) hitting,” he recalled.
But the feeling didn’t go away, and about 4 p.m. Christner told his coaches he wasn’t feeling well and was going home.
He didn’t get there.
“I made it about a mile down the road and had to pull over and just started throwing up,” he said. “(I) felt better and started back down the road and stopped, (and) just started throwing up again, and I said ‘I’ve got to get to the hospital.’”
He called his wife, Jackie, who was at home working, and she rushed to the hospital.
Once he was admitted, Christner was diagnosed with pancreatitis.
Waiting out a serious situation
The pancreas is a gland located under the stomach which secretes hormones, including insulin, to aid in digestion.
In Charlie’s case, gallstones had blocked the ducts connecting his pancreas to his small intestine. This, in turn, was leading to part of the tissue in his pancreas beginning to die.
Over the next several weeks, the Christners made several trips to the hospital while he dealt with pain and a gradual buildup of fluid due to a cyst that had formed around the inflammation in his pancreas. The cyst made him feel full all of the time and made it difficult to eat or drink.
The pain medication affected him, too.
“It messed up his thought process a little,” Jackie said. “Some days he didn't know what day it was or, you know, he doesn't remember those days.”
Although the diagnosis was fairly swift — the Christners knew from the beginning what was wrong and what needed to be done — surgery was delayed for nearly two months to let the inflammation in his pancreas go down.
But it was still a serious situation.
“It’s a most sobering experience to have a surgeon come out and tell you your son is very sick and it’s a very serious situation and has a 70 percent chance of survival,” said Dan Christner, who coaches with his son after a long career as a basketball coach at Brighton. “I’ve seen enough missed free throws to know that if you make 70 percent of your free throws, that means 30 percent aren’t going in. It gives you pause, and (you) say let’s make sure we’re a part of that 70 percent.”
The delay was to help increase those odds.
“They didn't want to do surgery (right away) because of all the inflammation and everything that's going on inside your body,“ Charlie said. “If you have to do it soon, then you end up being in a position where the odds of surviving are less if we have to do emergency surgery. So they delayed it.”
Charlie and Jackie made several trips to and from the hospital during the six weeks after the initial diagnosis.
When he felt up to it, Charlie was working on lesson plans along with administrative tasks while his coaches ran offseason workouts.
“He really wanted to make sure things were coordinated,” Jackie said. “And you know, that's Charlie to a T. He wants to make sure that everything runs smoothly and in that, you know, he's informed of any decisions or changes or things that are happening with the team.”
A veteran coaching staff, led by former Pinckney baseball coach Matt Evans, stepped into the breach.
“I think the big thing on our part was making sure that it was business as usual,” Evans said. “We weren’t going to let Charlie not being there through the winter be an excuse for why we performed or didn’t perform. He’s been a stable force and head of the program for a number of years now. We knew what we needed to do, and so it was about executing a plan that's pretty familiar to us.”
Christner went to a few offseason workouts, watching from a chair.
“(Jackie) would drive me up to hitting and I'd sit in there and watch the guys for as long as I could, 30 minutes or an hour, just to give me something to do," Charlie said. “Otherwise it was, you know, a lot of daytime TV and naps. I did do some stuff with baseball during that time, even if it was just to go watch hitting for an hour and talk to the coaches on how kids are doing. ... It gave me definitely something to do and something to look forward to.”
In the meantime, the Christners were flooded with cards, texts and phone calls of support, prompting Jackie to post regular updates on her Facebook page to lighten that load.
Their families were supportive, as was the community.
“Everybody was so gracious and heartwarming and opened their arms to us and said, ‘anything you need,’” Jackie said. “There's nothing that we really needed that the community could help us with too much because we were just stuck in a hospital, just kind of sitting there waiting for medicines, waiting for diagnosis, waiting for the doctor to progress the treatment, etc. And that was kind of what we needed.”
“I’m proud of the way that everybody came together and did what had to be done, and how excited people were to see him," Evans said. “That speaks to the time that Charlie’s put into this program over the last however many years as a coach, Any time you’re a coach, you look for those moments you can point to as having a positive impact on kids and the baseball community and all those things, and I would say the willingness of everyone to pitch in is a testament to how much he’s appreciated as part of the Brighton baseball community.”
On the way back
Surgery was March 3. Christner’s gallbladder was removed, along with the dead tissue on his pancreas. A pair of cysts were drained, and he went home a few days later.
Christner, always slender in physique, had lost 40 pounds – 10 of which liquid that had been building up in the cysts.
But, albeit from a chair, he was at tryouts March 15.
His voice was weak at first, but he made his presence known.
“When he was back at tryouts, those first couple times, he would cut loose and let out a yell,” Evans said. “And it was ‘OK, Charlie’s back, and he’s in it,’ and that made everyone feel good. Same old Charlie. He’s locked in. Same old competitor.”
A frustrated competitor, at one point, irritated because fungos weren’t being hit by his coaches in the manner he prefers. But he coached from third base, albeit from his normal spot a step or two from the dugout.
He progressed from liquids to solid food (his first solid food was pizza), and returned to the classroom April 12, three months to the day his medical odyssey began.
After an 8-8 start, the Bulldogs won District and Regional titles before falling in a Division 1 Quarterfinal.
The healing continues, but things are back on schedule for Christner, who turned 40 on Saturday.
He’s not outwardly emotional. He appreciates the love and support he and his family have received, but also wishes he could have accomplished more for his team during the time he was critically ill.
Jackie Christner is not as reserved.
“I just thank God every day that he is healthy,” said Jackie, who married Charlie in 2019. “And yes, our bond has strengthened. I think everything for us just knowing that we need each other and we need people in our lives as everybody does. But especially to know that we had each other and he had me. He often said, ‘I don't know what I would do if you weren't here. I don't know what I would do. If I hadn't met you, this would be 10 times harder to go through if you weren't here.’"
PHOTOS (Top) Brighton varsity baseball coach Charlie Christner, fifth from right, addresses his team. (Middle) Charlie and wife Jackie Christner enjoy a moment on the lakeshore. (Photos courtesy of Jackie Christner.)
Senior-Powered Centreville Eager to Build on 2024 Regional Final Run
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
April 8, 2025
CENTREVILLE – Optimism is running high on the baseball diamond in Centreville, where eight seniors return who have unfinished business.
Dan Truckenmiller, the Bulldogs' fourth-year varsity head coach, has developed a special connection with his senior class – many of whom he has coached for the past 10 years, since they started playing the sport at the Little League level.
"I've been fortunate to be able to move up in the program, along with my group of seniors. We're looking forward to a solid season. We basically have all nine of our starters back from last year," Truckenmiller said.
The coaching continuity and the Bulldogs' experience were big reasons Centreville, 13-4 in league play and runner-up in the Southwest 10 Conference last spring, was able to put together a strong postseason run.
The Bulldogs avenged a pair of regular-season losses by knocking off No. 8-ranked and undefeated Marcellus 11-1 in their District Final. Centreville went on to post a 2-0 shutout of Byron Center Zion Christian in the Regional Semifinals before losing 6-0 to Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep in the Regional championship game to finish 21-11 overall.
Centreville won't have the opportunity to avenge its season-ending loss to Hackett in the playoffs this season after moving to Division 3 (although the two will meet again during the regular season). But with a tougher nonleague schedule, the Bulldogs are confident they will be able to compete against anyone once the postseason arrives.
Centreville opened this season last Tuesday with a nonleague doubleheader on the road against reigning Division 3 champion Watervliet. The Bulldogs also have tough nonleague games lined up against Bronson, Union City, Constantine, Hackett, Schoolcraft and Kalamazoo Christian.
A formidable foe in baseball, Centreville reached the Division 4 Semifinals twice last decade under past coach Mike Webster. The Bulldogs lost to Muskegon Catholic Central 10-8 in the 2015 Final and fell 5-1 to eventual champion Sterling Heights Parkway Christian during the 2016 Semifinals.
Three of the most notable players Centreville's program has produced are former Major League relief pitcher Matt Thornton, along with along with current Division I players Jared Spencer (Texas) and his twin brother Jacob Spencer (Indiana State University).
Thornton, who enjoyed a 12-year MLB career with the Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres, still ranks second all-time in American League history with 182 holds. Jared Spencer is in the starting pitching rotation for the Longhorns after transferring following a stellar three-year stint at Indiana State.
Truckenmiller believes his 2025 Bulldogs squad has the potential to leave a special mark of its own.
"Our main goal is to always win the conference, which we haven't been able to do yet. There's always a little hiccup here or there that's kept us from achieving that," he said.
Centreville's senior class includes Evan Blair, Matt Swanwick, Ben Truckenmiller, Kobe Carpenter, Vinny Jines, Tristan Smeltzer, Garrison Bunning and Aiden Kohlhoff.
Swanwick, Carpenter, Ben Truckenmiller and Jines are all four-year varsity players.
"My plan right away when I took over as coach was to bring the guys that had varsity potential up and get them that experience," said Dan Truckenmiller, who played high school baseball with Thornton and Matt Swanwick's father Paul Swanwick as well as his uncle Matthew Swanwick. They are all 1995 Centreville graduates.
The 6-foot-5 Matt Swanwick will be Centreville's ace pitcher after posting a 3-1 mark and 1.67 ERA as a junior with 54 strikeouts against just 16 walks over 46 innings.
"I'm looking forward to this season. Our team is one year older, and that should allow us to handle ourselves better in any situation,” said Matt Swanwick, a first-team all-league selection last season who plans to attend Michigan State University to study to become an electrician. “We are deep in our pitching staff and we can all throw strikes, plus we have guys behind us who can make plays,"
Centreville's coach is confident in Swanwick's ability to handle the No. 1 role on the staff.
"Matt excels at whatever he does. He always throws hard and can place the ball where he needs too. At the plate, he's a clutch hitter with power and is probably the fastest guy on our team," said Dan Truckenmiller, who will be assisted for a third straight season by Chad Meade.
"Chad is a great coach who has been around the game of baseball a long time and is someone who knows the Xs and Os of the game very well."
Ben Truckenmiller, son of the head coach, went 6-0 with 73 strikeouts and 19 walks and a 3.50 ERA last spring. He will be the Bulldogs' regular starting catcher when he's not scheduled to throw.
Smeltzer compiled a 4-0 mark on the mound in 2024, allowing 16 walks with 24 strikeouts and a 4.10 ERA. Evan Blair, Carpenter and Jines could all see time on the mound as well.
"Most of our senior class is extremely versatile and can play multiple positions. Ben excels at catching and has been our starter there for four years. He's also become a better pitcher and has some good pitches that throw opposing hitters off," Dan Truckenmiller said.
"Kobe has been one of the best centerfielders I've ever had. He makes remarkable catches every game and is very vocal and stays positive. Vinny is a bigger kid who can hit the crap out of the ball. He probably hits it the hardest of anyone on our team. When he's up there, he's just looking to get a base hit rather than trying to hit it out of the park."
Swanwick returns as Centreville's top hitter in the No. 3 spot in the batting order where he hit .398 as a junior with 37 hits, including nine doubles, three triples, one home run and 34 RBI.
Carpenter, the Bulldogs' starting centerfielder, returns having batted .311 with 32 hits as the team's lead-off hitter a year ago
"I love the potential of our outfield. We all communicate very well, and there's good chemistry between us. We have lot of faith in each other to make every catch, and we have a strong core of infielders as well," Carpenter said.
Jines, the Bulldogs' starting first baseman, returns to fill the clean-up spot after hitting .395 with 32 hits, including eight doubles, with 32 RBI last season.
"We have a consistent group of guys who have played together from a young age,” Jines said. “I'm looking forward to playing first base again because there is a lot of attention to detail to be good at that position. You have to know the other infielders' style with the throws they make over to you.”
Ben Truckenmiller occupies the No. 2 spot in the batting order. He hit .318 with 28 hits, including three doubles, and had 15 RBI last year.
"I love catching. I have faith in my abilities behind the dish, and I feel like I'm one of the better catchers around our area,” he said. “ We have unfinished business this year and want to win our conference and Districts and go further than last year. It will take being confident and remaining focused to achieve those goals."
Two sophomores will supply a great deal of punch again at the plate for Centreville. Second baseman Cash Dentler returns after hitting .438 with 32 hits and 20 RBI and an on-base percentage of .539, while sophomore starting shortstop Bo Riley batted .281 as a freshman with 25 hits, including seven doubles, and 21 RBI.
Smeltzer batted .293 with 17 hits and 10 RBI. Juniors Jack Bartelt, the starting left fielder, and Matt Blair will play vital roles for the Bulldogs while Bunning is pegged for heavy duty in right field.
"Garrison is a team guy who I can always put into the game to get a clutch hit or make a key play in the field for us," Dan Truckenmiller said. "Jack is a big power hitter and aggressive for his size on the basepaths. Evan is a utility guy and our secret weapon who came out of nowhere last season to pitch valuable innings for us. Aiden has one of the best attitudes of anyone on the team too."
An ability to adjust and play small ball will be critical again to Centreville's success. The Bulldogs are also a big threat on the basepaths.
Centreville stole 124 bases in 2024 as a team. Leading that effort was Matt Swanwick with 22 followed by Ben Truckenmiller (21), Carpenter (18), Dentler (14) and Jines (13).
"Our guys understand that when there are times that we aren't hitting the ball very well, we might have to be able to lay down a bunt,” Dan Truckenmiller said. “I like to be aggressive when we get guys on base. I like to challenge our kids and steal a lot of bases."
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Centreville’s Ben Truckenmiller, left, beats a tag at third base during a 2024 game. (Middle) Matt Swanwick pitches for the Bulldogs last spring. (Below) Centreville’s seniors and coaches, from left: Assistant coach Chad Meade, seniors Vincent Jines, Tristan Smeltzer, Kobe Carpenter, Ben Truckenmiller, Garrison Bunning, Matt Swanwick and Aiden Kohlhoff; and Centreville head coach Dan Truckenmiller. Missing from the photo is Evan Blair. (Action photos by Brandon Watson/Sturgis Journal. Group photo by Scott Hassinger.)