Pro softball takes former Arizona star Taylor McQuillin around the world, this time Japan

Sometimes the smallest things change one’s course completely.

For former Arizona softball ace Taylor McQuillin, it was a text message early last year from former UA batterymate Dejah Mulipola as she had just finished up a pitching lesson.

McQuillin, sitting in her car, read the text from her former teammate, asking if Keilani Ricketts, a former two-time national player of the year at Oklahoma, could talk to McQuillin about playing in Japan.

McQuilliin said yes to that conversation, and although she had a lot of questions at first, she also said yes to joining Hitachi Sundiva, one of eight teams in the East Division of the Japan Diamond Softball League.

“I decided that not many people get this opportunity; why would I say no to it?” McQuillin said, who is now playing in her second season. “I’ve had the time of my life. I’ve gotten to travel; learn a whole lot about softball and the culture. It’s just been one of the greatest things I’ve ever could have ever said yes to.

“If I would have gotten this opportunity right outside of college, I don’t know that I would have said yes to it. I would have been scared to even try to move across the world and dive into a whole new culture, learning how to live life uncomfortably,” she added. “Being a little bit older and playing with the (Mexican) national team, getting to experience traveling a lot more and being in different environments allowed me to give myself the ability to say yes to something when it was presented that seems so crazy. Playing in Japan is such a cool opportunity.”

The lefty was a two-time first-team All-American while playing at Arizona from 2016-19. Opponents only hit .194 off her while she racked up 842 strikeouts and 82 wins in 716 innings pitched, with a 1.90 career ERA. McQuillin also recorded 34 shutouts — her 15 in 2018 alone led the nation — and opened her Wildcat career with a shutout against Southern Utah in her first game. She also was the 2014 National Gatorade player of the year as a junior out of Southern California’s Mission Viejo High School.

Her Japanese team is based in a suburb of Yokohama, which is a 30-45 minute train ride to Tokyo.

McQuillin never expected to be back playing in Japan just six months after playing for Team Mexico in the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021. But there she was, landing in Tokyo feeling a little nervous. She knew the softball was just softball once she got on the field, but still there was a language barrier.

McQuillin has taken Japanese lessons with the team translator and now has quite a few words under her belt. But still, she said it’s “kindergarten English with the Japanese words that we do know.”

“You have about three to five words to get your entire point across or else it gets lost in translation and you know what it, it works,” McQuillin said.

Somehow, whether the correct meaning of the words gets through or not, McQuillin and her teammates always end up laughing.

It also helps that there is another American on her team in ex-Utah standout Hannah Flippen. Plus, there are numerous American and Canadian professionals playing in Japan, including Alyssa Denham, McQuillin’s former Wildcat teammate, who plays for the Toda Medics.

These two Arizona alums have even met up in Tokyo on their days off to hang out.

Now they are on a break in their season, back in the United States playing in the Athletes Unlimited season. The league is through week three of a five-week Summer run. McQuillin has played in all four seasons the Athletes Unlimited circuit has existed.

Earlier this season, McQuillin pitched on Mulipola’s team in three games and scored 204 points. She landed in 36th place out of 60 players in the league. On the following Friday night, she came in relief for Team Romero, struck out six hitters over five innings and took second MVP honors adding 210 points. She zoomed up the leaderboard to the 10th spot with 414 points. In the Athletes Unlimited league, scoring includes pitchers earning points for outs earned while losing points for allowing earned runs. Currently, she’s in 13th place with 766 points — just 14 points shy of her Japanese teammate, Flippen, who is in 12th.

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Same game, different approaches

While softball is softball, there are differences in how the game is played in Japan compared to the United States. McQuillin said in Japan, it’s faster and more technical. Still, this wasn’t an entirely huge adjustment. She said it reminds her of how former UA coach Mike Candrea ran his practices.

“It’s all so fast,” she said.

“‘They make the game quick. That’s what they’re taught to do,” McQuillin added. “In America, we’re taught how to slow the game down so it doesn’t get fast on us. It’s the exact opposite. … The way they’re able to field the ground ball, get rid of it and transition it out it’s unbelievable.”

At 27, she’s still finding ways to be effective and that’s because of what she’s learned playing in Japan. McQuillin has continued to evolve her game. Some of it is on the mental side, including developing her strategy on pitch sequencing and how she is analyzing the hitters.

She also worked in the offseason with her brother, Greg, who is a UA softball grad assistant, on being more deceptive with her pitches.

“Obviously, I’d had the same pitches since I was 13 or 14 years old and I’m not going to have that element of surprise with a brand new pitch anymore,” McQuillin said.

“And I don’t think my body has the ability to maneuver through some new pitches. It’s utilizing what I have and being able to be effective on tunneling those pitches, so being able to run pitches on the inner half and then use on off-speed (pitch) on the inner half (of the strike zone). Surprising hitters; keeping them uncomfortable in the box,” She added. “I think that’s been something that I’ve really worked hard on this year is finding another way to rejuvenate my pitching repertoire. Being able to still be effective while hitters in this league (both AU and Japan) know everything about me and seen all that I have to give. Now, it’s about being able to pinpoint pitches better, run them through the same tunnel and use them to off balance each other to be effective.”

Reading ‘anything and everything’

McQuillin typically uses her off days to sightsee, walk around parks or even go on an outing with her teammates. Her favorite is an aquarium in Tokyo.

However, she spends most of her off days trying to relax with her newfound love of reading. She doesn’t have any favorite genres; she’ll read “anything and everything.”

“I actually got that from my grandma (Audrey). She would read 8 to 10 books a week. She’d sit at home and read and read and read,” McQuillin said.

“She passed away in February of 2022 — right before I went to Japan. I got to Japan and I was like, ‘I’m going to get back into reading.’ … Now, I’m the one that reads 8 to 10 books a month in Japan on the off time, when we’re traveling, or when we’re sitting in the hotel.”

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