Troy University Athletics
U.S. Colleges Sport International Flavor
5/15/2009 5:30:00 PM | Baseball
Courtesy of Jerry Milani, Baseball Digest
For the complete article, click here
The success and growth of baseball across the world has begun to show up in rosters of college teams across the United States.
Numerous foreign-born players are making their mark on the NCAA landscape. One is Shohei Fujita, from Kitakyushu-shi, Japan, who attends Troy University in Alabama. Troy has more than 60 campuses around the U.S. and in 11 foreign countries, which has led to a large international student body on its main campus.
In the fall of 2006, Troy's baseball coaches got a call from a student from Japan who had been to some games as a freshman during the 2006 season. He asked, through an interpreter, if it would be possible to try out for the team.
Knowing how large the international scope of the University is, they agreed and sent volunteer assistant coach Mike Murphree out to the field to hit the guy some ground balls and let him take some swings in the cage.
Murphree had only been at the field for about 10 minutes when Head Coach Bobby Pierce received a call on his cell phone. It was Murphree, telling Coach Pierce that he had better get out to the field.
Even though he was raw, the coaches could see that the kid had some ability. They let him come out to practice through the fall and he made the team. By the start of the 2007 season, when Troy opened against nationally-ranked Arkansas, Fujita was the starting shortstop.
Now a junior, Fujita has played in more than 100 games so far in his career. His highlights include a bases loaded single in the 10th inning to beat Alabama in 2008 and a game-winning hit against Saint Louis in 2007. He was the opening day starter at short again this year and is a regular contributor.
In addition to his play, he has been somewhat of an ambassador for Troy. He is on a University billboard with three other students that can be found all over the state and the South and he joined Chancellor, Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., in Dothan, Ala., last year to meet the president of the Sony Corporation, who was in town at one of their facilities and was being recognized by a local civic group.
Shohei is also a fan favorite and always draws a huge reaction from the students, especially the host of international students, who can be found at virtually every Troy home game.
