I was behind the microphone in Wichita for Jack Dahm’s final game as head coach of the Creighton Bluejays. After Steve Grasley threw a nasty complete-game shutout in the final game of the regular season to help CU secure the 6th seed in the Valley Tournament, I got the call to travel to Shocker country for the radio broadcast of the Jays’ tourney games.
But the Bluejays could only muster one run in two games in Wichita, losing to top-seeded Missouri State 5-1 in the first contest and bowing out of the tournament following a 2-0 loss to Indiana State in the 11 a.m. losers bracket game the next morning.
And just like that, the winningest coach in Creighton baseball history (283-276) was finished. A little over one month after dropping those two games in the Valley tournament, Dahm resigned a post he had held since the 1993-1994 school year. He became the youngest head coach in Division I baseball that fall, when at 25 he signed on to manage the team for which he had played (1986-1989) and been an assistant coach (1990-1993).
After a few years away from the program, Dahm and CU head coach Ed Servais (Dahm’s top assistant at Creighton and his replacement as manager) started scheduling games between their two squads. In 2008, the Creighton community welcomed Dahm back to Omaha and Rosenblatt Stadium. Dahm repaid the favor by picking up a road win with his Hawkeyes, 8-3. In 2009 Servais’ team made it two wins in a row for the road team in the non-conference matchup, with Creighton beating the Hawkeyes in Iowa City 12-3.
The series continues tonight at Rosenblatt, with Dahm’s Iowa team meeting the Bluejays at 6:30 p.m. If you make it to the ‘Blatt, be sure to share a warm round of applause for the life-long Creighton Bluejay wearing black and gold in the visitors’ dugout.