"My senior year, we went to Fresno State for a week," Dunphy said. "It was a great week. I remember pitching against UNLV, leading 2-1 with two out in the ninth and a runner on second. They took me out and a reliever got the last out.

"Cecil Fielder was on the UNLV roster. Fresno State had Terry Pendleton, who threw right, batted left and was a phenomenal runner. Long Beach was there, too. We wanted to show we belonged with teams like that."

As memorable as that trip was, Dunphy was just as likely to want to shine against nearby rivals like McNeese State and Lamar.

"I took it personally against McNeese," he said. "I grew up in Lake Charles and pulled for McNeese as a kid. Two of the four kids in our family graduated from there. We moved to Lafayette when I was 9.

"Playing McNeese was bittersweet."

It could also be dangerous. Once, after a McNeese player had targeted the Cajuns’ Bill Davis with a spikes-high, out of the baseline slide, Dunphy was told to send a message the next time the offender came to bat.

That happened two batters into the next inning, and Dunphy complied.

"You always aim for the shoulder, to knock them down," he said. "I don’t think I’ve ever thrown a ball so hard. It missed him completely. The catcher never moved."

That, of course, triggered threatening words from the entire McNeese dugout, and a brawny teammate willing to come between Dunphy and the angry mob before cooler heads prevailed.

Not every evening was as dramatic, but the memories remain.

Dunphy earned a place in the record book at UL, twice leading the program in earned run average as well as working the most innings on the staff as a senior in 1982 when he compiled a 7-2 record and was a second-team All-Louisiana selection.

For the hard-throwing Lafayette High product, low ERAs (officially, 2.53 in 1981 and 2.56 in 1982) became a calling card.

"If you don’t give up a lot of runs, you give your team a chance to win," Dunphy said. "We had offensive weapons. I just had to keep us in games."

Dunphy, coached by Jay Stelly at Lafayette High and by Gerald Hebert as an American Legion Baseball standout with Burger Chef, played his first two years at UL under Don Lockwood. But he relishes the two years spent learning the game from Mel Didier and assistant Brad Kelley.

"Mel turned the program around, and he and Brad were both terrific coaches," Dunphy said. "With Mel, you knew what was expected of you. He knew the game, but the biggest things for him were your family, your religion and school. He made sure we went to class. Baseball was not the most important thing.

"I remember coming back from a long road trip to Arkansas State and having an 8 a.m. statistics class the next morning. But he wanted us in class, and we went."

Didier made an immediate impact as the 1981 Cajuns won a then-record 40 games (40-23). They were 33-25-1 in Dunphy’s senior year.

"It was fun to play for him," Dunphy said. "He taught the game. He kept things simple. He would discipline you, but never show you up in front of the other players. He was tough, but he respected us."

Dunphy learned what not to do early in his career when he gave up a long home run at Louisiana College in his first game and was told "You’re not in high school anymore," but he learned to pitch from the fiery Kelley.

"Brad taught me about location and the mental side of pitching," Dunphy said. "Coming out of high school, I was fastball, curveball, but I hung the curve too many times. I went to fastball, slider and change-up. The slider became my ‘out’ pitch.

"I learned not to put it out over the plate when you’re ahead in the count.  If you did, you heard from Brad. Go up and in, or off and in the dirt."

Dunphy also gives much of the credit for his success to the Cajuns’ catchers.
"We had a great group of catchers," he said. "Their catching skills were phenomenal. We were all on the same page. They would chart pitches, and you knew what to expect. I don’t think the coaches called pitches back then. They all did a great job of that."

The Cajuns of the 1980’s had numerous battles with McNeese and Lamar, but Didier also had a special fondness for playing, and beating, the UNO Privateers.

"It was always a big deal to beat those guys," Dunphy said, "and I remember one time when we beat them they were ranked No. 5 in the country."

It was a special era in UL baseball, whether you were homegrown like Dunphy, Wayne Bares, Bob Kulbeth, Marc Baronet, Mark Lalande, Chad Credeur and Bo Stuart, or one of the army of junior college players who came aboard.

"Mel recruited a lot of JC players," Dunphy said. "They loved it here; mixed in well. They were great players – not just good athletes, but good kids."

Seemingly endless drills, coupled with rugged conditioning tests, had the Cajuns ready to compete with the Fresnos and UNOs of the game.

They were formative times for Dunphy, who has worked with Acadiana Casters and Wheels in Lafayette for over 35 years and remains close to Cajun athletics.
He and his wife Kay raised two sons, Brandon and Tyler, who gave him other numbers to ponder other than earned run average. Both sons graduated from UL with spotless 4.0 grade point averages.

That’s not good for an ERA, but can’t be beat as GPAs.

Through it all, Dunphy has remained close to Didier and twice has read Didier’s memoir "Podnuh Let Me Tell You a Story – A Baseball Life."