Megan Faraimo wins the Most Valuable Player Award for the first time!
Megan Faraimo is in her third year with the Toyota Red Terriers. On December 1st, the JD.LEAGUE Women’s Softball Annual Awards for the 2025 season were held, where she won the Most Valuable Player Award for the first time.
The Toyota Red Terriers have won the league title three times in a row, demonstrating their strength this season. Five members of the team also received individual awards. The ceremony, complete with gorgeous costumes, was a wonderful way to end the year.
Toyota’s award-winning drivers (from left) Naruse, Shimanaka, Faraimo, Yamada, and Ishikawa – Photo by Journal-ONE
This time we interview Faraimo, who had a great season, looking back on this season.
interview
won many awards
Interview with Faraimo after the award ceremony – Photo by Journal-ONE
Q：How do you feel after receiving this award?
ｰI feel so honored and very grateful for the support that I have. I think this league and Japanese professional softball is so top tier that it’s pretty, it’s just a pretty cool moment.
Looking back at this successful season
Faraimo’s impressive pitching performance – Photo by Journal-ONE
Q：What were your thoughts going into this season, and how do you feel looking back on it now?
ｰAt the beginning of this season, I was really just looking forward to going through my process. It was earlier in the year and I really just wanted to figure out what I like to do, how I like to compete and then by the end, I had figured that out and so it feels pretty good to have that.
-JD.LEAGUE
The team achieved three consecutive victories
Q：Which game is the most memorable game and then in that game which play you remember?
ｰThey all kind of blend together because we played so much. I know that there are moments for my, like with my teammates that are the most memorable. Like Soa hitting a home run. Yuzu, Kyoko making all those plays, those individual moments in my brain stick. I think maybe the semi-final game against Shokki is a whole game that I thought was just really great softball.
Catcher Kiriishi also works together to create the game – Photo by Journal-ONE
ｰI think it was the semi-final game because the whole season, Kiri and I had been working on like following intuition, keeping it simple and it felt like all of our hard work not just physically but mentally really paid off in that game. We were so comfortable, we were so dialed in and on the same page. That’s why it was my favorite game.
Careers at Toyota
Q：You’ve been here like almost 3 years as a player in Toyota. How do you feel?
ｰYeah, I feel so lucky. I think it’s really difficult for a team to have great culture in 1 year or to be surrounded by great people in just 1 year, but to do that 3 years in a row, I just feel so lucky, so honored and blessed to be on the team that I am.
Faraimo’s pitching technique is making waves in the softball world – Photo by Journal-ONE
To deliver a powerful pitch
Q：You always throw powerful pitches, like throughout three years, how like each year make you like different, like how do you feel about it?
ｰI think that each year has challenged me in very different ways. I would say this year, particularly because I played in a lot of different leagues, it’s kind of just like how far is my will gonna take me, like how much can I actually battle and keep coming back to compete for these teams. So I think that way this year, I was challenged and I’m pretty happy that like my heart was still there by the end, like I wasn’t burned out or anything. So I think that was this year’s challenge.
To keep the feeling
Q：What makes you keep like fighting?
ｰI think it’s because I found joy in all of the challenges. It’s hard to burn out when you like things and you’re happy, like you’re grateful to have those obstacles.
Toyota players in the semi-final against Toyota Shoki – Photo by Journal-ONE
To the fans who support us
Q：What do you wanna tell for the fans for next season?
ｰI want to tell all the fans, everyone that came out this year, grab a friend and bring them along. I think we’ve done, we’ve has done such a great job of creating a good experience for fans. But I still think that we can get some more people there at the games. I think the more people that are there, the more people fall in love with the sport and the better it is for all of us.
Ayane Nakagawa (center), winner of the Most Valuable Player Award, and Managing Director Yamaguchi of Nitori Public Co., Ltd. (right) – Photo by Journal-ONE
