Joichiro “Jo” Oyama has been living his American dream for the last five years.
Growing up in Okinawa, the smallest of the five main islands of Japan, Oyama idolized Ichiro Suzuki, one of the best Japanese-born Major League Baseball players. He recalls sitting in front of the television as a young boy watching Ichiro, and that is what inspired him to start playing baseball at seven years old.
Oyama didn’t play any other sports as baseball was his passion from day one. He was on club and school teams but never really had an opportunity to be seen outside of Okinawa. With no interest from universities in Japan, Oyama started to research how he could continue to play the sport he loved. What he found was an article about college baseball in the United States that put him on his current path.
“It was interesting to me how there is a junior college system and if you do well there, then you can transfer to a four-year school,” Oyama said. “I knew I wanted to do it; I wanted to challenge myself. I talked to my parents about it, and they said they would support me so then I looked up California study abroad and baseball, and Merced College popped up.”
Oyama, who didn’t speak any English at the time, reached out to Merced College to express his interest in attending and playing baseball. The school has a Japanese international student office that was able to help him with the process, including getting him set up with a host family. So at 19 years old, he made the move on his own to the United States. For a lot of people, it would be scary to leave everything behind and head to a foreign country where you didn’t speak the most widely used language, but for Oyama, he felt more excitement than trepidation.
“I was excited because I had never been here before,” Oyama said. “My impression of America before I came here was burgers, pizza, a lot of good food and that there’s always something fun going on.”
Before he was able to enroll, Oyama spent a few months taking ESL classes at Merced. After passing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), his college journey officially began, but it wasn’t an easy road.
Initially, he felt disappointed in his English, and although he wasn’t necessarily homesick, he felt a little out of place because often times he couldn’t understand what his coaches and teammates were saying. Luckily, they were always welcoming and willing to help him.
“When I first came here, I didn’t know anything about baseball in America and I didn’t speak English,” Oyama said. “But my coach and teammates always tried to help me, and I can’t thank them enough.”
As his freshman campaign in 2020 progressed and he started to feel more comfortable, the pandemic hit, shutting everything down, including his baseball season. Despite the uncertainty, Oyama made the decision to stay with his host family in Merced while continuing his education online. He didn’t get to go home for three years, but the silver lining was that it gave him the opportunity to get to know his teammates better and to improve his English.
Oyama had a difficult time studying English in textbooks, but really started to pick up the language by watching movies - with some of his favorites being Home Alone, Bad Boys and Rush Hour - and hanging out with his friends, teammates and host family.
“The two years during COVID, I spent a lot of time with my friends,” Oyama said. “Every time I didn’t know what they were saying I asked them to explain to me what it means. That basic stuff helped me with the quick transition. It was not easy, but it was fun to see that process of me getting better at English.”
He also made a transition on the baseball field. Standing at 5-foot-6, Oyama weighed about 150 pounds when he arrived at Merced. Other players in the U.S. were bigger and stronger, but he was fast. Although his coach told him to just use his speed, Oyama wanted to add the power.
“When I first came here, I couldn’t even hit the ball to the outfield,” Oyama recalled. “I wanted to hit the ball harder, so I started lifting during COVID and I gained about 20 pounds. That helped me to add another aspect. Now sometimes I can hit for power, so my baseball game has definitely been changed (since coming to the U.S.).”
His work paid off as he earned first-team all-conference honors the next two years and was named a 2022 Junior College Second Team All-American at Merced College. In 91 career games played, he hit .360 with 109 runs scored, 20 doubles, nine triples, eight home runs, 70 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Those numbers were more than enough to catch the attention of several NCAA Division I coaches, including UC Irvine head coach Ben Orloff.
"I saw Jo at the Northern California Junior College Sophomore Showcase,” Orloff said. “That was the only time I saw him play. He got a bunt hit and then hit a ball over the right fielder’s head. He played with energy. I have known his junior college coach, Nate Devine, for a while and he loved the kid. Then the more you get to know the kid and his story, the more it makes you want him to be part of your program."
