This summer, Ricky Ojeda had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Team USA in Japan for the 45th Edition of the Collegiate All-Star Championship Series against the Japanese team.
Ojeda, a pitcher who graduated from Valencia High School in 2023, was among the 26 premier non-draft-eligible college players to represent the stars and stripes in this year’s championship, held in mid-July.
He described the experience as a major accomplishment, stating he’s never played in a competition that has given him so much honor.
“Team USA is like everyone’s dream,” Ojeda said. “Everyone aspires to try to play for Team USA. It’s such a big accomplishment.”
Pitcher Ricky Ojeda on the mound for Team USA in Japan, photo courtesy of Ricky Ojeda
The Valencia native credits his drive to represent the country thanks to his UC Irvine teammate, Anthony Martinez, who participated in the same competition the two previous years.
“After last year, my teammate, Anthony Martinez, got invited for two years, his freshman and sophomore years, I really wanted to be a part of that as well,” Ojeda said. “So that was one of my goals I set out after my freshman year, going into my sophomore year.”
Prior to even making the 26-man roster, Ojeda was first invited to the program’s trials in North Carolina where he competed with 55 other players in hopes for a spot in Japan. Although he enjoyed his experience on the other end of the country, he wasn’t ready for the humidity that came with being on the East Coast.
“I went down to North Carolina, which was pretty cool to be there, but really humid,” Ojeda said. “That’s the one thing that I found out about that side of the country. It’s really humid compared to here. So that was a big shock to me.”
Ojeda said he was still in awe throughout his time there because of the players he got to face on the mound and during the competition.
“A lot of these guys you can’t watch them on TV, or you’ll see them on social media because they had amazing seasons themselves,” Ojeda said. “So, to be able to be invited to the Team USA’s trials it was cool being able to finally meet them, and what kind of person they are, and just hang out with an elite level of athletes.”
With the training camp coming to an end, then came the roster decisions. The trials were composed of friendly games among the freshman and sophomores, but instead of having a one-on-one conversation after the end of the competition, Ojeda was instead notified he booked his ticket to Japan by being put in a group chat.
“We played five games. I had two appearances during that and then after the fifth, maybe like half an hour after, they created a little group chat with all these people in it who made the team and said congratulations,” Ojeda said. “So, they sent out the text and told us not to tell the people who were on the bus with us, which was like a two-hour bus ride back to the hotel from the minor league park that we played out last game in.”
After the exciting news Ojeda didn’t have the chance to celebrate. Besides some acknowledgment with fellow teammates who made the roster he had to pack up because within a few hours he had to hit the tarmac.
“We had five or four hours ’til we were leaving to the airport to Japan, so it was a quick turnaround,” Ojeda said. “It was a rough plane ride there. But once we got there, it’s a really nice place. Japan was cool to experience.”
After landing and seeing what Japan had to offer, Ojeda said, he saw his time there as a “business trip,” with one goal in mind: to play baseball.
“That’s what our whole focus is,” Ojeda said. “We had a little practice at a junior college there in Japan, which was cool. Obviously, there was like talks telling us what to do, what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Throughout the competition itself, Team USA was unable to win a game in the five-game series against the Japanese. Although there wasn’t any team success, Ojeda was a name to look out for. He allowed no runs over 3.2 innings pitched and had a team-best nine strikeouts across three appearances in the series.
Despite the impressive performance, Ojeda remains unfazed, not letting the moment get to him.
“My mentality was kind of just the same thing as going against any other team,” Ojeda said. “I always try to think to myself that when I step on the field, I’m the best player out there. I got to believe in myself over anything. Even if I’m in another country on the other side of the world, it’s still the same game, right? It’s still baseball.”
After accomplishing his goal to represent Team USA for the collegiate national team this summer, Ojeda has other goals in mind for the future, such as eyeing a potential appearance in the Olympics.
“Playing for Team USA as a professional, that would be awesome,” Ojeda said. “I think the next LA Olympics in 2028, if I were able to play for that, that would be an insane accomplishment.”
AloJapan.com