Strong Has Good Fortune Smiling on Manatee High Baseball

Transforming the sporting culture at a high school predominately known as a football powerhouse has not made head coach Dwayne Strong immune to criticism.

With the Hurricanes heading to their first state semifinal appearance since winning the Class 2A state championship in 1963, the lone barb that could be launched at Strong is he does not smile enough. At least, that is what he has been told.

"It’s funny because everyone wants to say, 'you don’t smile a lot,' but there are a lot of things the head guy has to do that nobody else has to do," Strong said. "When the day is done, they don’t have to worry about those little things. I spent all day (Monday) making hotel reservations, getting a bus, making dining arrangements, getting practice set up and figuring out what time we’re going to leave. They don’t have to worry about that stuff, so it’s a little bit easier when you’re not the guy."

Having to manage all the miscellaneous details that come with Friday’s Class 5A state semifinal against Lakeland at Port St. Lucie’s Digital Domain Park is what Strong envisioned when he became the head coach at his high school alma mater a little less than four years ago. The vacancy at Manatee was the only one attractive enough to lure Strong away from his post as an assistant coach for legendary Sarasota High head coach Clyde Metcalf.

Strong, who played an instrumental role in Sarasota Booker’s resurrection from 1995-2002 under former head coach and current Booker head football coach Fred Gilmore, joined Metcalf’s staff in 2003. During Strong’s last three years as a Sarasota assistant, the Sailors put together a perfect regular season in 2005, finished as the Class 6A state runner-ups in 2006 and won the 2007 Class 6A state title.

"It was just an opportunity to come back home," Strong said. "Honestly, this is the only place I would have left (Sarasota) for."

A former Manatee Community College standout and an assistant for Hall of Fame head coach Tim Hill, Strong had one thing instilled into him throughout his baseball odyssey. All championship-caliber teams work hard.

"I had to change the culture – just the work ethic," Strong said. "We needed players who were willing to come out to ballpark every day and work hard."

The Hurricanes responded to Strong’s approach in his first season by beginning what has turned into a four-year playoff run. However, it was not until this year’s team overcame a 5-0 deficit in the Class 5A-District 10 semifinals against Naples Gulf Coast and defeated Venice 3-0 for the district title that Strong knew that he had finally established his stamp on the program.

"It really started last year," Strong said. "We lost (3-2) to (Tampa) King (in the Region 3 quarterfinals). We started the year last year well before we kind of fell apart. We started to pick things up again toward the end of the season. We had a really good summer and started seeing more kids buy in to what we were trying to do."

From Manatee winning games it may have lost the previous three seasons to beating its three playoff opponents by a combined margin of 40-14, Strong has had plenty to smile about this spring. For those who have not seen Strong crack a smile, they may just get that chance if the Hurricanes can win two more games and head back to Bradenton with a state championship.