Esters, Fidge bring international flavor to Pirate softball

COSTA MESA -- According to Google Maps, it is approximately 8,800 miles from South Australia -- home state of Orange Coast College sophomore pitcher Ruby Fidge -- and Fidge's home for the past two years here in Southern California. From the other part of the globe, it's almost the same distance between Frida Esters' hometown of Leksand, Sweden and OCC (8,681 miles).

And yet, here these two softball players are ... connected by a life decision that saw the two of them end up here at Orange Coast College, where they have been two key pieces to a Pirate softball puzzle that is on the verge of school history as the Pirates host Fullerton this weekend in the Southern California Super Regional playoffs, beginning this Friday at 2 p.m. at the OCC Softball Stadium.

How did these two players from opposite parts of the world make their trek to sunny Southern California? Let's hear their stories ... 

"First of all, my original plan was to just stay in Australia and play club softball and not play college," Fidge said. "But then I played in American Samoa for Australia and about a week later we got a message from Johanna Grauer, who used to play at UCLA and played with Frida as well. (OCC assistant coach Elise Laws) asked Johanna if she know of any pitchers from Australia or anywhere outside of the U.S. and she mentioned me, so I connected with OCC and decided to go over and give it a try. I had nothing to lose and it seemed like a good opportunity."

And you, Frida? "Well for me, it was almost the same, because I also knew Johanna because she came to Sweden and played with me in 2019 before she went to Australia," Esters said. "I wanted to play in college, but I didn't know anyone, so I reached out to her and she connected me with Coach Elise and that's how it got started for me."

For Esters, a versatile utility player for the Pirates who's batting .324 in 25 games played with 12 hits and 11 runs scored, her love of softball happened in a country where softball is under the radar in terms of country-wide popularity. "I started playing when I was younger in a summer camp, but the sport in Sweden is really small," Esters said. "For a season now, we have like four teams that compete ... in the entire country! Baseball is a little bigger in my country but if you ask people in my country about softball, they may not even know anything about it, other than it's sort of like baseball."

OCC head coach Jodie Kiaha had this to say about Esters. "Frida is a player who we knew immediately when we saw her film and she reached out to us that we wanted her in our program," Kiaha said. "We communicated with her via Zoom and we fell in love with her and her family. She has made an impact on our program. Our girls have learned about other cultures because of Frida and because of Ruby. She's a special one to be at Orange Coast and we hope that continues with the softball journey here in the states. She's our first player from Sweden and we couldn't be happier to have her here."

While softball has a bigger following in Australia, but in Fidge's home state of South Australia, it's still a sport that's trying to get its footing. "It's not huge where I'm from," Fidge said. "I started when I was 8 and it's been growing since I've been playing. My whole family has played softball or baseball, so I didn't really have a choice growing up. Since I've started, there's been more younger girls getting started in the sport and in other parts of Australia, it's much bigger."

Fidge is seeing her OCC career wrapping up at the end of this season, but her two-year career has been outstanding. As a freshman, she went 12-6 with a 3.12 ERA last year, helping the Pirates (27-15 in 2024) advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1992. This year, Coast (30-7) was the co-champs of the Orange Empire Conference for the first time in 33 years and Fidge has gone 6-4 with a 2.98 ERA with four complete games in 65 2/3 innings. "Ruby comes from strong bloodline of softball and baseball talent," Kiaha said. "Her mom is a longtime softball coach and her dad played professional baseball and she's no stranger for playing in different parts of the world. She represents Australia well and she's someone we are so proud to have here at Orange Coast. She's made a huge impact on our program."

Fidge's two-year career at Coast has seen her transform into not only a steady starting pitcher, but as a leader to the Pirate pitching staff. "Last year, considering our team was much smaller, I came over with not a ton of confidence, but because I was one of our two pitchers we had on the team, it forced me to get out there and do my best," Fidge said. "Before coming here I was more of a closer and I hated starting games, so having to start games really helped me with my confidence as well as with my knowledge and skills of my game. And now this year, as the only sophomore pitcher, that has helped me gain more leadership skills and that has helped my confidence grow as well."

As for Kiaha and her Pirate program, the ability to not only bring in Fidge and Esters into the Pirate culture, but to do so with their homes and families half a world apart is something she does not take lightly. "It's so important to create a family environment for any of our student-athletes, but especially for our international students," Kiaha said. "We gather quite often as a team, our coaching staff is an extended part of that family and with our campus having a very involved Global Engagement Center as well as a great population of international students, it helps make that feeling of family and community that much stronger."

With time in the states now under their belts, the Pirate duo have made the acclimation look easy, but moving away from home is never easy, especially at a young age and so VERY far from home. "I had to get used to just living by myself and keeping myself accountable for my schoolwork and for my softball. I know my first semester was pretty rough just trying to get used to being here in a different country and being on my own for the first time, but once I got into a routine and being out at softball where you're with the same people every day, that really helped me settle in. Anything I needed, they were so ready to help with whatever it was, so that helped me a great deal."

As for Esters, in addition to all of the similar hurdles Fidge had to overcome in this global move, Frida had one more huge obstacle ... English. "For me, it was definitely learning the new language," Esters said, clear as a bell. "At home, I speak Swedish, so I had to learn to speak English every day to make it a langauge I could communicate with. Doing school in English definitely helped and just being around it every day makes it easier, but in the beginning I was really struggling ... trying to translate what I heard and trying to process what it was and what I wanted to say, but it's gotten much better. Especially if I'm in a big group with lots of people talking ... by the time I processed what they were saying and I was ready to say something, they were already on to a new topic. But now, I feel like I can drop in and converse much better than I did at the beginning."

Fidge added of Esters ... "We helped Frida get out of her shell. No way was that NOT going to happen."

While Esters does enjoy her time here in the States, there are still some things she misses from her home country, excluding her friends and family. "I would say candy," Esters said. "Our chocolate is so good there. Our Swedish meatballs ... the Ikea ones are OK but I don't really go there very often. Food in general over there ... the bread is different ... the sandwich I eat in the morning is different ... things like that. But if I could bring American food back with me, it would definitely be the fast food. I come from a small town and we don't have places like that there. I'd bring Chik-Fil-A, I'd bring Chipotle and I'd bring In-n-Out back with me."

Any future advice for any soon-to-be international students out there who might consider making OCC their home?

Esters: "Be open-minded and say 'yes' to more things. If you want to try something ... say 'yes" ... if someone suggests new food for you ... say 'yes'. Make sure your Visa is up to date and all your paperwork is in order."

Fidge: "Wherever you are from, get out ... don't stay in one place your whole life. The more experience you gain now, the better off you'll be later in life. Coming here to OCC made me grow so much as a person in learning a different way of life. Get out and have fun ... you've got nothing to lose. Like Frida said, make sure you get your Visa and it's up to date. And be sure to reach out to the (Global Engagement Center) and ask for whatever help you need."