Prior to Plant City and Durant’s matchup on Thursday, the Raiders’ head coach Mike Fryrear was presented with the annual Artie Vazquez Memorial Coaches Award on behalf of the West Coast Umpires Association and its president Steve Zsiga. The award is given to honor sportsmanship from the recipient and is typically presented along with several other awards at the conclusion of each year’s Saladino Tournament.
“Out of all the awards that we’ve won here as a team and a group, a state title and all that, this one does stand out to me,” Fryrear said. “Winning states, winning the first district title in school history, that’s great. That’s the bucket list and that’s the checklist. When you start achieving goals, the personal goals just happen for you. But I don’t look for personal goals, I want our team to do well. We’re ranked third now in the county, exactly where we wanted to be heading into the playoffs, that’s where we thought we were going to be. We’re first place in the district in a really tough district. But if you do the right things on and off the field and in school, you do right by the kids, listen to their heart and do things with your heart, good things are going to happen for you. This is a very special award.”
A graduate of Durant High School and a former player at the University of North Florida, Fryrear served as an assistant coach with high school and collegiate programs that include UNF, Flagler College and Windermere Prep prior to taking over as head coach of Plant City. Now in his 10th year at the helm for Plant City, he has compiled a record of 149-83-1 with the Raiders.
In 2019 he led the Raiders to a 30-2 record — finishing as the second-ranked team in the state and the 18th-ranked team nationally — while notching the program’s first district, regional and state championships. In addition, the Raiders won the 2018 George M. Steinbrenner Wood Bat Classic in the fall and the 39th Annual Saladino Tournament in the spring.
Following the 2019 season, Fryrear was named All-Western Conference Federal Division Coach of the Year, the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 8A Coach of the Year and the Florida Dairy Farmers Overall Coach of the Year, All-813Preps High School Coach of the Year, and the Tampa Bay Times’ Coach of the Year for both their All-Hillsborough County team and their All-Tampa Bay team.