Player Profile: Baseball is Part of Fuchino Family

Memorable moments of childhood days spent in the stands at Los Angeles Dodger games may have helped begin his connection to the game of baseball, but for Creighton catcher Cooper Fuchino, the game's pull didn't stop at the ballpark. That same draw followed him home, to Rolling Hills Estates, California, where, surrounded by his parents Laura Marvin and Stacy Fuchino and his older brother Hayden, baseball became a part of Fuchino's everyday life.

"I started playing baseball when I was four, also played basketball, but since 12 years old, all I played was baseball." Remembered Fuchino. "My dad played baseball until college and my mom also played softball. … It was probably the sport that we really focused on."

Though baseball had a steady presence in the Fuchino household, it didn't hold everyone's attention. "Hayden played a little bit, but he got hit by a pitch and literally he was done," recalled Fuchino.

For a young Fuchino, though, the game wouldn't let go. Living by the rhythm of over 260 days of California sun, the diamond, whether behind home plate or posted at first base, became his home.

His father, Stacy Fuchino, was always nearby, coaching every throw and swing.

"He was my coach in Little League, and then when I started playing travel ball, it was a different coach, but then in high school he joined the coaching staff, so he was my coach up until my senior year of high school," explained Fuchino.

Guided by his father's lessons for nearly his entire childhood, the California native developed not just his skills on the field but a clear vision of where he wanted baseball to take him.

"I think ever since I started playing, [I knew I wanted to play in college]. I just wanted to play professional baseball and college is part of that," said Fuchino.

His dream started early, but soon became a reality.

By the end of 2022, after a standout final season at Peninsula High School that landed him team MVP and First Team All-CIF accolades, Fuchino committed to Creighton University, making the 1,574-mile trip to Omaha, Neb., ready for the next level of competition.

The transition from California to Nebraska wasn't just about trading mid-70-degree days and year-round baseball for the bitter chill of Omaha winter, though. Fuchino quickly realized that competing at the college level would take time.

With that understanding, Fuchino entered Creighton in the fall of 2022 with the intent to redshirt for the 2023 season.

"I wasn't good enough to be playing over a couple of the catchers that we had," noted Fuchino. "They were obviously older and they were a whole lot better than me, but I was still able to travel [my first year], and it was just a good experience being around an older team."

The freshman catcher took every opportunity that season to grow, steered by and leaning on the wisdom of veteran players like senior catcher Tyler Lozano — a fellow California native.

"Tyler just taught me the game in college baseball and he took me under his wing and helped me out hitting and catching," said Fuchino.

Fuchino soaked up every warm-up, every pre-game drill and every practice session of the 2023 season, using each as an opportunity to sharpen his skills and prepare for the day he would step onto the field.

But just as Fuchino was finding his rhythm at the end of his freshman year, a single, routine throw to second base changed everything. What should have been a standard practice rep instead ended his 2024 campaign before it even began.

"I was at practice, throwing down to second, and I just felt a pop and then I got an MRI, found out my UCL was torn. I finished out the season and got surgery on it right afterwards" said Fuchino.

The severity of the tear required Fuchino to get Tommy John surgery. "My entire sophomore year was kind of out due to injury. I wasn't ready to play at all," said Fuchino.

The injury was more than a challenge to his building freshman momentum. It was also the first time Fuchino faced being kept off the field for an extended stretch.

"It's weird because that was probably the first break I've ever taken from playing baseball, [because I was always] just playing year-round," recalled Fuchino.

As he pushed through the grueling training to rebuild strength after Tommy John surgery, the absence of the game also left Fuchino searching for something to occupy his mind.

"I found golf being pretty fun," he explained. "That kind of took my mind off it a lot. It was just a battle [at the time to see] if I was able to come back healthy or not."

Golf became an unlikely friend for Fuchino in the months following the surgery, giving the California native a way to decompress. The sport is still a cornerstone of Fuchino's life outside of baseball today.

"It's just something where you can take your mind off the game for a while," noted Fuchino. "There's a whole lot of failure in this game [baseball], and there is in golf but, I don't know, it's just a different thing."

After a month or two of the training program, Fuchino began to feel more like himself and soon he had fully recovered, his arm healthy and ready to handle the demands of the game again.

The time away from the game gave Fuchino a fresh perspective of his situation and his relationship with baseball as the 2025 season got underway.

"You just can't take the game for granted," reflected Fuchino. "You've got to go out every single day like it's your last."

For Fuchino, that mindset meant staying in Omaha, choosing to trust his progress and development with the Bluejays during an era when transferring has become increasingly common among players.

"This was the only Division I team that gave me a chance, so [I was] just sticking with that. I want to play for this team, at this field," said Fuchino.

That personal commitment mirrored a growing belief within the clubhouse. Whether it was the mix of players on the field or the way the early season was unfolding, Fuchino recalled thinking his third year in the white and blue felt different.

Little did he know how much the season had in store for the Creighton baseball season, and how he would become a part of it.

"We were winning games," reminisced Fuchino. "[And to be] winning a game with these guys, it doesn't really matter to me if I'm getting in this game. It was just trying to figure out anything I could do to help the team out."

His commitment soon paid off, as Fuchino got his break early in his third season with the Bluejays.

On May 4, on the road at Bulldog Park in Indianapolis, Ind., Fuchino's name was finally called. Stepping up to the plate, facing down the soon-to-be victim from the Butler bullpen, one at-bat was all Fuchino needed.

"I got called into the game and King [head coach Mark Kingston] and Mo [assistant coach Billy Mohl] were like, 'You better hit a homer here,' so [I was] stepping up to the plate with a whole lot of confidence," recalled Fuchino. "Getting a 2-0 count and sitting dead red heater, [I swung] as hard as I could and off the bat I knew it had a chance to go."

The ball flew up and over the left field wall, and with the sailing homer, the catcher recorded the first home run of his collegiate career and a play that resulted in two RBI.

For Fuchino, the moment was as simple as it was defining.

" I knew there was one or two ways I could go: either take that opportunity and suck or do something cool. I was just trying to do something cool, and I ended up doing it," he said.

The 2025 season brought more than just one moment of triumph — for both Fuchino and the entire Bluejay squad. The catcher made six appearances and recorded five at-bats that season, collecting three RBI.

As for the team, the season culminated in a BIG EAST Championship ring adorning every player's finger.

"It was pretty crazy. That team last year just kind of knew we were going to do something pretty cool," said Fuchino.

Entering the 2026 campaign, Fuchino approaches his fourth year with a veteran's perspective. While he intends for the team to repeat that 2025 BIG EAST championship success, this season also brings a clarity earned from years of navigating the inevitable highs and lows of his career.

"Now I look at [redshirting] like I wasn't ready, and those years got me ready [and] to where I am now," he said.

Fuchino sees his years at Creighton as preparation — an opportunity that's shaped how he approaches his role as both a player and a teammate.

"I definitely have [taken on a role of mentor to guys who are going through similar things]," shared Fuchino. "I know what some of these guys are going through with the challenges of not playing or not traveling, so just teaching them that you never know what's going to happen, so just always be ready."

With his fourth season in the white and blue underway, Fuchino's journey is one not shaped just in the snapshots under the lights, but in the setbacks, the perseverance and the growth.

For the kid who once sat in the stands of Dodger Stadium, dreaming about the future, the game has become something more than that dream. And through every high and low, one thing has remained constant. The game never let go — and neither did he.

Player Profile: Baseball is Part of Fuchino Family

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