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.)
In 'Turn & Burn,' Kent III Gives Voice Again to Father's Life Lessons, Coaching Wisdom
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 29, 2025
As his son, his player and during their time coaching together, Warren Kent III was front row for the words of wisdom often shared by his father Warren Kent Jr., who coached a multitude of sports at seven schools over more than three decades.
But as the years have rolled on after his father’s death in 2017, Kent III began to realize something most disheartening – he’d forgotten the sound of his dad’s voice.
In an attempt to regain that memory, Kent III has given us all an opportunity to listen.
His book – “Turn & Burn” – is the story of a son growing to love baseball under the tutelage of his father, a teacher and coach of the local varsity. The seeds for that love of the game are planted during the summer of 1984 – coinciding with the Detroit Tigers’ most recent World Series championship season.
Technically, the story is fiction. But it’s set in Fulton Township, which lies just west of US-127 between St. Johns and Ithaca, where Kent Jr. was indeed a coach and Kent III grew up and attended Fulton High School. And all of the information on the Tigers’ historic run that season – including game-by-game synopses of all 162 plus eight in the playoffs – is true as well and easily will connect with fans who, like Kent III, grew up during that unforgettable summer.
“That was my thing. I wanted people to get the feelings I had with the ’84 Tigers and sharing that with my dad as I was growing up,” he said. “My outlet is writing, so this is really a catharsis, just to get this out there, to let other people know the love of the Tigers but more the love of my father and things we went through together.”
Kent III was five months old when the Tigers won their 1968 World Series championship, but 16 in 1984. He said his book is about 70 percent factual, but even the imagined is rooted in reality.
The main character in “Turn & Burn” – EJ – is 12 years old because that seemed a more reasonable age to fall in love with the sport, and by 16 Kent III was well into his baseball fandom. The father in the book is a teacher and coach. Kent Jr. was a special education teacher for more than four decades and his son’s baseball coach at Fulton High School but just for freshman year before moving into the stands for the remainder of Kent III’s four-year varsity career.
Kent III began coaching baseball himself when he was 18 and served as North Muskegon’s varsity coach for 15 years, including 11 with Kent Jr. as his assistant. At one point in “Turn & Burn” players write EJ’s dad’s initials on their hands because he had been hospitalized after a heart attack; North Muskegon players did the same when Kent Jr. had a heart attack prior to a Pre-District game in 2005.
“Some of it’s been changed. Some of it’s been realistic,” Kent III said. “(But the dad) is definitely my dad’s voice.
“I put him in charge of the outfielders at North Muskegon, and that was his one motto – ‘Turn and burn.’ The kids could probably tell you that over and over, (that’s) the one thing Coach Kent would always say.”
A source of many of the fatherly pearls of wisdom found in “Turn & Burn” came from a journal-style “father’s legacy” book Kent III had purchased for his dad years before and asked him to fill out. Kent Jr. passed those on not only to his children but during a coaching run that took him to Hudsonville, Ashley, Fulton, Vestaburg, Blanchard Montabella and Greenville, where notably he led the football program to its first playoff appearance in 2000.
Writing has long been a love for Kent III, who taught English and journalism for 32 years – and served as a yearbook advisor for three decades – while at Battle Creek Central and then the final 27 years at Muskegon Mona Shores. Prior to becoming a teacher, Kent III was “Journalist of the Year” at Ferris State while sports editor of the student newspaper and then moved on to study and serve as sports editor of the paper at Michigan State.
He has written for the Big Rapids Pioneer, Lansing State Journal and Battle Creek Enquirer, among others over the years, and after retiring from teaching at Mona Shores this spring took a position with Walsworth Yearbooks helping schools all over the state with their yearbook programs.
Kent III also is in his 34th year as an MHSAA registered official. He wrote a piece once for Referee Magazine about his experience officiating the 2011 Class D Girls Basketball Final at Breslin Center, home of his beloved Spartans. He’s more recently officiated Basketball Semifinals at Breslin during the 2023 and 2024 seasons and has returned to the baseball diamond as an umpire as well after umping baseball and softball earlier in his career.
Writing a book came to Kent III during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he like many searched for something to occupy spare time. “Turn & Burn” is available exclusively via Amazon; click for details.
The venture was never about making money, but he’s sold 152 books – well above his goal of 100. And while Kent III still has not come across any recordings or voicemails of his father’s voice, “Turn & Burn” has given him a chance to hear Kent Jr.’s words once again.
“The sound, no. But the things and the ways he would say them, yes,” Kent III said. “Everybody else says they can picture his voice. I think it’s because, I’m assuming being his son, my voice probably sounds familiar to his to other people, but I can hear the things he’s saying. And in that book, the way he’s saying them.”
2025 Made In Michigan
Aug. 5: After Answering Call, MCC's Caughey Finds Football Lessons Pay Off in Priesthood - Report
July 31: After Enjoying Pro Golf Stardom, Flynn Relishing Roles as Instructor, Sports Mom - Report
July 29: Marckel Supplies Marketing Magic to Hunter's Heisman-Winning Campaign - Report
July 28: Union City to Omaha: Skirka Takes Murray State Baseball to 1st College World Series - Report
July 22: TC West's Wheelock Still 'Living My Dreams' as CMU Assistant Soccer Coach - Report
July 17: Stevenson's Travels Following Lake Orion Success Include Space Force, Penn, NYC - Report
July 15: 'Who Will Cheer for the Nimrods?' Peterson IV, Watersmeet Found Fans Worldwide - Report
July 10: Feeding 'Drive to Win,' Loy Norrix Grad Morgan Impresses with Strong USBC Showing - Report
July 9: After Blazing Multiple Volleyball Trails, Bastianelli Charting Next Career Path - Report
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Warren Kent III sits in the front row of a team photo as manager for dad Warren Kent Jr.'s 1979 Fulton baseball team; Kent Jr. is sitting far left of second row from bottom. At right, Kent III today. (Middle) "Turn & Burn" is Kent III's first published book. (Below) The Kents anchor a photo with North Muskegon players and their District championship trophy in 2009. (Photos provided by Warren Kent III.)