The way Kansas first baseman Josh Dykhoff saw things while growing up, it was never a question of whether he was going to play baseball.
It was just where, for how long and with who?
All these years later, those questions have been answered — at least in part — and his rise through the baseball ranks can be traced back to what they call “Town Ball” in his Minnesota hometown of Bluffton, a town of less than 300 people in the west-central part of the state.
“I got really lucky with my father and my grandfathers,” Dykhoff recently told R1S1 Sports. “They grew up with baseball in their lives and I grew up from 2 years old going to these town ball games and watching my dad play and my grandpas play and my uncles play.”
Eventually, Dykhoff played in them, too. And the man who coached him at Division II Minnesota Crookston for three years before he came to KU said these games are a big deal to everyone involved in them.
“It’s not a church league,” Crookston coach Steve Gust, a native Minnesotan himself, said in a recent phone interview with R1S1 Sports. “It’s serious stuff. It’s almost like Minor League Baseball.”
While these Town Ball games played a huge role in Dykhoff falling in love with baseball, his success within the game is owed to his upbringing away from the ballfield.
Dykhoff grew up on a duck farm and, as such, had daily responsibilities to take care of on top of his school work and practices.
Dykholff’s chores around the family farm with dad Wayne and grandpas Don and Larry were particularly important in early spring — coincidentally around the same time baseball season began — when a new crop of ducks would hatch in their incubators.
Caring for them was simple, Dykhoff said. Wake up before school and feed them and make sure they had water.
“After school, after practice, you get home and do the same thing,” he said.
That’s not to say there wasn’t time for baseball at home.
“Our house was on like 300 acres, so we had big yards," said Dykhoff, who enters the NCAA Tournament hitting .298, with 15 homers and 53 RBIs, putting him among the team leaders in all three categories. “Luckily, my dad kept it mowed for us and we trampled all his grass playing Wiffle Ball with all our cousins.”
Like with most things they did, they went all out in creating the picture farmland baseball field.
“We stole some of my dad’s spray paint and we took some of our duck fences and staked them down in right field and center field for the fences,” he remembered. “In left field, the barn was the wall. We called that the big baggie in left field.”
That nickname, of course, was homage to the iconic blue baggie at the old Minnesota Metrodome, Green Monster be damned.
In the summer months, it was more of the same, while also waking up early to throw hay bales before heading off to play ball.
“I grew up in a family where it was always just put your head down and work,” Dykhoff said. “I got lucky that I didn’t have to work an actual job with it. It was always on the side and my dad and grandfathers were able to support that and support me going and playing baseball.”
KU first baseman Josh Dykhoff has been big for the Jayhawks both in the field (left) and at the plate (right). [Kansas Athletics photos]
Still, that work ethic served him well in the game he loved — at Crookston, with summer teams, at Kansas and even with Town Ball.
KU coach Dan Fitzgerald has marveled at how the KU infield goes about its pregame preparation, every single time out without skipping even a single rep.
But that approach was a part of the Dykhoff way long before he arrived at KU.
According to Gust, Dykhoff was both the top hitter and pitcher during his three seasons at Crookston, starting on the mound on Friday nights and hitting in the middle of the order at the plate.
Despite dealing with a variety of injuries — nagging minor stuff and significant back issues — Dykhoff never missed a start and never took a day off.
“There were times when he could barely walk and he’d come to my office and tell me he couldn’t do anything for the day” Gust recalled. “But he’d always find a way to do something, even on those days.”
The reason?
Dykhoff felt he owed it to the game, to himself and to his teammates to make sure he did everything he could to play and help. Besides, what else was he going to do?
“It’s just a blessing to go out and have fun and play a kid’s game,” Dykhoff said. “Every day when I wake up, I wake up with a smile on my face and I’m happy that I get to come to the baseball field and work. It’s what I want to do and what I love to do. Every day is a blessing to be out here.”
“The work ethic obviously helped a ton," he added. "Because that’s where you get your confidence from, working on the side. And then the game is just the fun part.”
Even when he was little, Dykhoff dreamed of playing college baseball. He loved his time at Crookston and, according to Gust, even had a hard time leaving it behind.
But after graduating in three years and realizing that Crookston did not have graduate school, he entered the transfer portal in search of another place to play.
The connection between the culture at Crookston and Kansas hit him immediately — interestingly enough, KU coach Dan Fitzgerald grew up in Edina, Minnesota — and that led Dykhoff to believe that KU was the right next step.
Eventually.
“Another word that comes to mind is he’s a pretty loyal kid,” Gust said. “His toughest baseball decision was probably to leave us for Kansas. That says a lot about who he is. But when it came right down to it, it was a no-brainer. He needed to go and experience what he’s experiencing right now.”
So, now, with the Jayhawks (42-16 and the No. 15 national seed in this year's NCAA Tournament) on the brink of their first home regional game in the history of the program, Dykhoff, his work ethic, his like-minded teammates and what they’ve all built together at Kansas is ready for another step.
Proving they belong on the big stage.
“That’s part of his culture,” Gust said. “And culture wins baseball games.”
“There’s no better culture than having a guy like Josh Dykhoff in your program,” he continued. “It's kids like Josh that create the culture — like, championship culture. Coaches like to talk about it, but you really need kids like Josh to have that culture. He'd say he’s just a small piece of it, but, really, having a kid like Josh does create culture.”
Top-seeded KU, hosting an NCAA regional for the first time, will open play against No. 4 seed Northeastern at Noon (central) today at Hoglund Ballpark in the double-elimination tournament.
Second-seeded Arkansas and No. 3 seed Missouri State will play in Friday's second game and they round out the four-team regional.
More of our coverage of the 2026 Kansas baseball team...
• Jayhawks win outright Big 12 title - Putting KU's first ever Big 12 crown in the proper context and perspective
• Stop us if you've heard this one... - Jayhawks validate regular season title by winning school's second ever Big 12 tourney trophy
• Jayhawks draw No. 15 national seed for this weekend's regional at KU - Kansas opens postseason play at Noon on Friday against Northeastern at Hoglund Ballpark
• Meet the Jayhawks - A deeper look at who these guys really are, outside of their baseball stats and stardom
• Hoglund upgrades 20+ years in the making - and they may still be just getting started
• The man behind the mask - What catcher Augie Mungarrieta has meant to KU
• From France to Friday nights - The story of KU pitcher Mathis Nayral
• Coming out of his shell - This season has been so much fun even normally-reserved KU ace Dom Voegele has allowed his emotions to show
• All he does is win - KU shortstop Tyson LeBlanc has done nothing but win in the game of baseball since he started playing and he hasn't slowed down in Lawrence
• Ready and willing - How KU's starting infield set the tone for this team's incredible work ethic
• Red-hot Jayhawks working magic recipe for another memorable run - Juco recruiting, hard work, being incredible teammates, it's all part of the magic that KU coach Dan Fitzgerald has brought to Lawrence
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
