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Baseball Head Coach - Jim Dapkus
Coach Dapkus enters his third season as head coach at Lincoln University after spending the previous nine seasons as head coach at Central Methodist University in Fayette. He began the process of making the Blue Tigers a consistent winner after they had posted 19 wins in their previous two seasons (2002-03, 2003-04). In his first two seasons he led the Blue Tigers to 38 wins, doubling the victory total accumulated in the springs of 2003 and 2004.
The onfield improvements made by his team are reflected by wins, but in class the student-athletes success is determined by grade point average. In the 2005-06 academic year, the Blue Tigers posted a 2.8 GPA (Fall 2005) and 2.7 GPA (Spring 2006). For the fall of 2006 the Blue Tigers recorded a 2.8 cumulative GPA.
While at Central Methodist, Dapkus coached teams won more than 20 games in eight of his nine seasons, highlighted by a school record 32 win campaign in 2004.
Originally from Worth, Illinois, Dapkus played two seasons at Southwestern Community College (Creston, Iowa), then transferred to Missouri Western State University (Saint Joseph, Mo.) where he was an All-MIAA selection after leading the Griffons in innings pitched and wins his final two seasons.
After his playing days concluded, Dapkus remained at Missouri Western as an assistant coach for two seasons. He then accepted an assistant coaching position at Central Methodist, which he held for two seasons before accepting the head coach assignment.
During the summer months coach Dapkus spends the majority of his time at the baseball field either coaching or working camps. Career highlights for Dapkus include working in the summer of 2000 with USA International, when he took a team to Brasschatt, Belgium where they won first place at the Flanders Invitational Tournament.
An experienced coach on the collegiate level, Dapkus has also been head coach for two local American Legion teams. He coached Columbia Post 202 for two seasons and in the summer of 2006 Post 5 from Jefferson City. Dapkus led American Legion teams have won three district titles and finished second in Missouri in 2004 (Post 202). His combined American Legion record is 91-40 (.695).
Though many upgrades have been made to the Lincoln University Baseball Field since Dapkus took over the program, the list of improvements the field needs is endless. Offseason work included installation of a new infield, concreting and painting of dugouts and rigging the new outdoor batting cages. The items next on the order of importance to add are a clubhouse, new scoreboard and lights, which will allow for evening/night games.
Coach Dapkus has a bachelor’s degree from Missouri Western and a master’s degree from Central Methodist.
He currently lives in Columbia with his wife Terri and their sons Blake, 4 and Brady. |
