MINNEOLA, Fla. – It can be cliché to describe a hard-worker as someone who is ‘the first to clock in and the last to leave,’ but in the case of Winter Garden Squeeze assistant coach and Lake Minneola High School baseball head coach Kerry Whetro, it’s a phrase that fits to a tee. Winter Garden players and team interns often arrive at home games close to two hours before first pitch, and all are greeted by Whetro, who has been working on getting the field ready hours before the game.

Anybody who has been to Lake Minneola High School has likely seen Kerry at work. Whether it’s raking the dirt, taking out the trash, or even spray-painting the logos behind home plate by hand, Whetro does the dirty work to ensure the quality of the playing field is top-notch.

“When I coach, I don't do it for me, I do it for these kids,” Whetro said. “When you do things the right way, you do things because it affects other people. It does not bother me to stay here until everybody leaves at night… I just want to supply a field for these kids to play on.”

For Kerry, the love of the game and giving back is what motivates him to work as hard as he does, and it’s a drive that goes back as far as he can remember.

“I've always had a love for baseball,” says Whetro. “It's in our family’s blood.” His family ate, slept, and breathed baseball. His dad, like Kerry, was a baseball coach. The Whetro’s yearly family vacation was going to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Whetro was born and raised in northwest Ohio and played college baseball at Mount Vernon Nazarene College, an NAIA school in Mount Vernon, Ohio, about 40 miles from Columbus. He had aspirations of making it professionally, but conversations with those close to him forced Whetro to think about life after college baseball.

“I really had no intentions of coaching, I went to college to play baseball,” Whetro recalled. “During my college days, I kept going home and my father kept asking ‘what are you going to do after [your baseball career],’ and I knew what he was saying, but I wasn't ready to hear it yet…”

Kerry, after much deliberation, knew that his calling was coaching, but he didn’t coach baseball immediately. He ironically started his coaching career in basketball right after college, a sport that he says was his “first love.” He coached high school basketball, and eventually, baseball in Ohio.

So, what brought Whetro to Florida? Well, two things: his faith and his family. On the faith side, both Whetro and his wife are ordained pastors. On the family side, his son, Bryan, played college baseball at Lake Sumter Community College and Oklahoma Wesleyan. During his college career, Bryan played for the Sanford River Rats during the inaugural season of the FCSL. But, the decision to move was not an easy one. Despite living in the comfort of his hometown in Ohio, Whetro made his decision to go.

“God said ‘go,’ Whetro remembered. “[My wife and I] looked at each other and thought, is this really what we're hearing? Are we supposed to go?” Despite the questions, they stepped out of their comfort zone and relocated.

The move to Florida has paid off. Whetro is nearing a milestone of 500 wins as a coach between stints at East Ridge High, South Lake High, and now, Lake Minneola High. This past season at Lake Minneola was his first season, and it was a success. After a season that saw the Hawks lose their last 20 games, finishing with a 6-22 record, Lake Minneola had a dramatic turnaround, winning 21 games in the 2019 season.

“This year, when I took [the Lake Minneola program] over, I just decided we’re going to do things the right way,” Whetro said. “It didn’t have anything to do with me, but it was allowing me to do what God wanted us to do. I am a firm believer that if you have the faith, you need to display it.”

Working alongside coach Terry Abbott and the Winter Garden Squeeze has been an enjoyable one for Whetro. This summer, he has traded the Lake Minneola Hawks jersey for a Winter Garden Squeeze uniform, working as an assistant coach for the Squeeze. Despite a trying season on the field, Whetro loves being around the coaches and the players.

“It's so much fun,” Whetro says about coming to the park daily. “I’ve got to come to the ballpark anyways, but [the team is] a pleasure to be around.”

For Kerry, being around college players is an opportunity for him to give back, to guide players on their journey for life after college. Some might make it to the big leagues, but most will not. Whetro relishes the opportunity to impart wisdom on these young men, to learn from mistakes he made as a college student-athlete.

“I knew coming out of college what I was supposed to do,” Whetro said. “I was good enough to, and I don’t say this pridefully, but I was good enough to get to the next level, but life got in its way and I messed it up. I did some things I shouldn’t have done and paid the price. Every morning I get up for the last 35 years of being an educator, I look at myself in the mirror and I wonder ‘what if?’”

It could be very easy to dwell on past mistakes and let them affect the present, but Whetro refuses to look at life that way. He coaches out of a heart of serving and guiding the future generation of players and coaches.

“Don't do things because people are expecting you to do them, follow your heart,” Whetro said when asked what his advice would be to young people looking for their next step in life. “Follow what God told you to do… Follow your heart, follow your dreams.”

What’s next for Whetro? His short-term goal is simple: get 36 more victories to achieve 500 wins in his coaching career.

“I promised my wife that we would go on vacation soon as I get 500 wins,” Whetro mentioned.

The vacation destination? Going back to his childhood family vacation spot in Williamsport. It’s not where many people would expect out of a dream vacation, but for Whetro, it’s a fitting place that is rooted in the love of baseball.