Louisiana outfielder picks Wichita State baseball

Dayton Dugas had his plane ticket to Oklahoma State and an official visit planned for this weekend.

No need. Wichita State’s baseball program won him over in mid-August. He loved Wichita and the restaurants he visited, loved the campus and the baseball facilities. His father is old friends with Shockers coach Todd Butler and — this matters to a guy from Louisiana — he noticed a Cajun restaurant close to campus.

“Gumbo,” he said. “My mom makes it. My dad makes it. Chicken. Sausage. Duck. Deer sausage. Every seasoning you can think of. Sometimes, my dad puts in oranges for flavoring.”

Dugas, a senior centerfielder from Sam Houston High in Lake Charles, La., gave WSU a non-binding commitment last month during his official visit. Butler gave him the option of thinking about it on the plane ride home and Dugas declined.

“Everything was perfect,” he said. “The town is great. It’s one of the cleanest places I’ve ever been. I didn’t want to leave there without being a Shocker.”

His father and Butler worked as waiters at Peppers Roadhouse in Lake Charles many years ago. Butler started recruiting Dayton Dugas while an assistant at Arkansas. When Butler moved to WSU, Dugas’ interest followed.

“That kind of did it,” he said. “They’re rich in baseball history.”

Dugas (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) is already regarded as a potential draft pick in June. Last March, Perfect Game scouting service ranked him one of the top 100 sophomores and juniors in the nation. He played last summer with the Atlanta Blue Jays and said he hit .310 with five home runs and 25 doubles. Living for two months in Atlanta also proved he could stand living away from home.

Sam Houston coach Ross Blankenship said Dugas can run a 6.4-second 60-yard dash and throws 91 mph from the outfield. He sees him hitting in the middle of the order in college.

“That kid, physically, is everything you could ask for,” Blankenship said. “He can hit for power. He’s got every tool you can imagine.”

Dugas said he also considered Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

Special trip for haircuts — On Friday, 10 baseball players walked into Wesley Medical Center to spend an hour visiting children. Three hours later, they walked out with shaven heads.

“We were going to do a meet-and-greet and it turned out to be a miracle,” said director of operations Scott Gurss.

A young cancer patient named Hannah got the haircuts started when outfielder Michael Burns volunteered. She shaved as much as she could before letting her mother finish. Gurss left with a green, purple and pink W painted in his hair. He plans to return to let her shave it all off this week.

“Hannah kind of stole the show,” Gurss said. “All the guys said ‘If you’re going to do one, you’re going to do all of us.’”

When the players returned to Eck Stadium, they got a standing ovation from their teammates. Gurss said most of them followed along and are now sporting a clean-shaven look.

We want you — Wichita State’s women’s golf team starts its fall season on Monday at the Chip-N-Club Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., a standard stop for the Shockers.

The schedule starts to look different later this fall when they travel to tournaments hosted by Missouri, Iowa and Hawaii. WSU, which won the Missouri Valley Conference title and played in its first NCAA Regional last spring, is a more attractive guest. In the past, for example, Missouri put WSU on its wait list for The Johnie Imes Invitational and WSU had to hope another team backed out. Now the Shockers are an invited guest because they are expected to help their opponents’ strength of schedule.

“We’re marketable now,” WSU coach Tom McCurdy said. “We’re now getting the invites, instead of waiting on the table scraps.”

Strength of schedule matters because, like in other sports, teams can earn NCAA at-large spots. McCurdy is looking for tournaments which feature Big 12 and Big 10 opponents. His team, with its lineup from the MVC and regional back, needs to face better competition.

“It’s tougher,” he said. “It’s going to help a ton. The (national) rankings … are pretty heavily based on strength of schedule.”

Sophomore Maria Alejandra Villalobos led qualifying for WSU’s five-person lineup in the first tournament. Last spring, WSU defeated Indiana State by one stroke to win its first conference title since 1992 with Alejandra Arellano finishing in a tie for second. It ended the first round in 10th place at the NCAA Central Regional in Stillwater, Okla., before slipping to 22nd in the 24-team field.

“Everybody looks about the same, they just look like they’ve matured a year,” McCurdy said. “Villalobos and Samantha Stewart kind of had the deer-in-the-headlights as freshmen. Through qualifying, five rounds, the highest round either shot was a 76. They look really good. We’re just trying to stay out of the way.”

Worth noting — WSU’s softball team begins its fall scrimmages on Saturday against Seminole (Okla.) State College (2 p.m.) and Johnson County Community College (4 p.m.) at Wilkins Stadium. Its alumni game is Sept. 20 (1 p.m.). On Sept. 27, the Shockers play Northern Oklahoma College-Enid (noon) and Tulsa (4 p.m.). On Oct. 4, it’s Hutchison Community College (11 a.m.) and Cowley College (1 p.m.). The fall season ends on Oct. 11 against Rockhurst (Mo.) (2 p.m.) and Crowder (Mo.) College (4 p.m.).… Former WSU track and field coach Herm Wilson is holding an open house to visit with friends and former athletes from 1-5 p.m. Sunday at Larksfield Place Assisted Living, 2727 N. Rock Road.… The Shocker Baseball Fall Classic is Oct. 10 at Braeburn Golf Course, with tee times at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Cost is $125 for the public and $75 for former baseball players. For information call 316-978-3636.

This story was originally published September 6, 2014 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Louisiana outfielder picks Wichita State baseball."