‘Busiest kid on campus’: DWU’s Dakota Munger balances baseball and golf in same season – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL – Dakota Wesleyan University’s Dakota Munger is constantly on the move.

His busiest days begin at 7 a.m. with a morning weightlifting session, followed by classes from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and then from 12:30 p.m. to about 2 p.m. Then it’s off to baseball practice for a bullpen session or arm care, immediately followed by a trip to the golf course for golf practice until 6 or 7 p.m. Finally, he returns home for more school work, which can keep him occupied until as late as 11 p.m.

For Munger, it’s become second nature to play baseball and golf in the same season, as he’s done it for years now. However, those who see him on a daily basis, specifically DWU baseball coach Charlie Dubanoski and golf coach Jeff Meyerink, remind him of how unique his situation is.

“I’ve just been used to it my whole life, but coach Dubanoski and coach Meyerink, they told me all spring that I’m the busiest kid on campus and that nobody else is doing this,” Munger said. “Then I kind of start to process it and I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is pretty cool.’ But it’s a lot of fun and I don’t look at it as a burden, I look at it as an opportunity to grow.”

Hailing from Oacoma, Munger excelled in both sports at Chamberlain High School. On the links, Munger finished in the top-10 at four Class A state tournaments, including two third-place finishes and a second-place performance in his junior season.

At the same time, he was a deadly two-way player on the diamond. In his senior spring baseball season for Chamberlain/Kimball/Lyman, he had a team-high .658 batting average, 13 runs batted in, 17 runs scored, five walks and only struck out twice in 13 games. On the mound, he started four games, going 2-0 with a 2.07 earned run average while accumulating a team-high 37 strikeouts.

Initially, Munger wanted to focus on golf at the collegiate level. However, Meyerink and Dubanoski worked together and offered him a shot to play both sports. Even though they knew it would be a lot to juggle for Munger, they were confident he could do it.

“Coach Dubanoski and I talked about it, and we knew he was a good student and he would definitely stay on top of his academic stuff,” Meyerink said. “To participate in both golf and baseball practices is hard. It’s two different rotations, two different sets of skills you’ve got to utilize.”

To make things a bit easier for Munger, he only pitches for the baseball team. That leads to less practice time and more flexibility. Even though the Tigers don’t get the benefit of his talent at the dish, Dubanoski said Munger’s abilities were too good not to have him play in some capacity.

“When you have an athlete as special as him, you’re willing to make it work,” Dubanoski said. “So, talking with Jeff, we have a great relationship, I’m sure it’s been a lot for Dakota, but he’s managed it really well. This is why he has become a pitcher only for us on the baseball side, so he can focus on his golf swing and just throw the ball for us. That’s been a big part of it.”

Although Munger knew it would be a delicate balancing act playing golf, baseball and handling class work, he felt the opportunity to play both sports was too good to pass up. Plus, his prior experience handling multiple sports and school in the same season at Chamberlain gave him the confidence that he could do the same in college.

However, it wasn’t the smoothest transition. During the fall golf season, long before the chaos that spring would bring, he struggled to adapt and endured rough patches. He realized what it would take to succeed at the collegiate level.

“It was an eye-opener when I first came here, because everybody was their best player in high school. And every kid now is really good,” Munger said. “In order to compete, you have to have your best stuff, week in, week out.”

But he’s proved he can up his game. On the course, he was one of DWU’s top performers. He was consistently near the top of the leaderboard in most tournaments, picking up a victory at the DWU Spring Invitational, an 11th-place finish at the GPAC Championship and earning a GPAC men’s golfer of the week honor.

On the diamond, he’s been a staple in DWU’s starting pitching rotation. He’s started 11 games, pitching 57 2/3 innings with a 5.77 ERA and 39 strikeouts. He and the Tigers aren’t finished either as they eye a run in the GPAC tournament, which begins on April 30.

While his play has thrilled both Dubanoski and Meyerink, both have been even more impressed by how well Munger has handled the stress of two sports, plus his normal school work.

“When you get a kid like that that is that driven and that talented, it’s a pretty special person it takes to kind of operate those three skills,” Meyerink said. “I know there’s been a few days where he had five, six days in a row there with no break between anything. He’s handled it phenomenally well.”

“He doesn’t have a bad day. You can tell he’s maybe drained, but he’s still going to give you every bit of what he has that day, and I think that’s really special for a freshman,” Dubanoski said. “To be able to juggle and be mature enough to handle changing schedules and communicating with professors, to really be on the ball with everything we would expect from a senior, he’s doing it already as a freshman.”

Although he’s not quite done with this spring, Munger is already looking ahead to next year. Not only is he motivated to improve his play, but he’s taking steps to give himself more time to focus on athletics.

“Next fall, I’m taking six classes, so that way in the spring, I’m able to take a little bit lighter of a load and it should be easier to manage,” Munger said. “Being able to overload in the fall a touch more will allow me to have an easier spring and allow me to focus more of my time to athletics.”