Love of the game: Merced College’s Nishibe gives softball a second chance

Arisa Nishibe needed more than a little convincing.

Like so many Japanese exchange students before her, Nishibe came to Merced College to study athletic training. Hoping to take a page from the baseball team’s success with Japanese imports the last four years, softball coach Suzanne McGhee recruited Nishibe’s services for more than a year.

The answer every time was, “No.”

Growing up in a much more competitive environment in Japan, Nishibe burned out on the sport long ago. From the time she was 9 until she stepped away from softball at 18, Nishibe played softball 345 days out of the year. She said they practiced four hours a day during the week and eight hours a day on weekends.

McGhee kept the offer open and eventually, persistence and a little curiosity won out. Nishibe finally decided to watch the She-Devils practice and decided it might be a very different experience. The 21-year-old joined the team just before the start of the fall season and quickly rediscovered her love for the sport.

The decision has proven a blessing for both parties, with Nishibe serving as a rock in the middle infield and atop the lineup. Her quiet focus and mature approach have provided a nice balance to the team’s youth and proven major factors in Merced’s first playoff appearance since 2009.

“Softball in Japan, there is a lot of pressure,” Nishibe said. “You can’t make an error. You can’t do anything to upset the team’s good energy. I didn’t enjoy playing. So when coach asked me to play here, I always told her no.

“I watched the team practice and saw they were having fun. I saw they were a good team and so I told coach, ‘Yes.’ ”

Despite three years out of softball, McGhee said Nishibe quickly picked up the game.

The second baseman has hit .319, is second on the team with 37 runs and leads Merced with 13 stolen bases. She’s been a defensive gem as well with a .947 fielding percentage and an affinity for getting dirty.

Her stellar play helped the She-Devils finish second in the Central Valley Conference and earn the No. 10 seed in the NorCal playoffs, and it has them optimistic going into Saturday’s best-of-three at No. 7 Diablo Valley College.

“Arisa was that missing piece that really solidified us,” McGhee said. “I don’t know where we’d be without her. She’s just solid in every phase of the game and plays with a different intensity than everyone else.

“Because she spent so many years not enjoying softball, she really has an appreciation for the game, and you can see her having fun out there.”

While Nihsibe’s skill set quickly adapted to the American game, the language barrier and cultural differences took a little longer.

“Communication was the biggest thing,” third baseman Jennifer Moreno said. “I remember the first day of practice we were working on cutoff drills. We kept trying to tell her to cut it or let it go, but she didn’t understand what we were saying. It took a little while, but we eventually developed our own language with her.

“I can’t really remember how it happened, but she bonded with me pretty quickly. We did our best to teach her about America, but she is so quiet, we didn’t really know what she thought of it all.”

Having countryman Haruka Nukina on the team has helped with Nishibe’s transition but also presented other problems.

“Japanese culture is much more conservative and much more disciplined than here,” McGhee said. “Arisa is much more relaxed playing here than she was in Japan, but because there’s another Japanese player on the team, she isn’t completely comfortable letting her walls down and being herself.”

Still, her American teammates have worked their way into Nishibe’s heart. The rest of the She-Devils found out just how much when they each penned a letter describing what motivates them. Nishibe wrote that she’s playing for her coach and teammates. She said she used to be afraid to play softball but wasn’t anymore because of the support of the team and that she was honored to be a part of them.

McGhee said there weren’t many dry eyes left after the letter was read.

“I have the best coach and teammates,” Nishibe said. “They are crazy, but kind. I have fun playing softball again, and I want to play my best for them.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Love of the game: Merced College’s Nishibe gives softball a second chance."