It’s been just over a year since it was announced that pitcher Laney Fukuoka would be joining Emerson College’s baseball team as its first female player. Now, with almost a whole season in the books, the Sacramento native spoke to The Beacon about her time on the team and the lessons she learned.

Having played baseball with her older brother since she was a child, Fukuoka said it has impacted every part of her life, including how she approaches the sport.

“Baseball connects to my own life; it’s taught me that . . . anything is possible when you work hard and put your mind to it,” Fukuoka said.

Being the only girl on a historically all-male team and sport, such resilience and confidence are much needed. Women have been kept out of the sport for decades, with the excuse that the game is too “strenuous,” citing softball as the preferred option. The current U.S. women’s baseball team is made up of around 20 members.

“I feel like you face adversity along the way, or you may have some internal struggles,” said Fukuoka. “But it’s you versus you. You just have to learn how to block out that noise, have that full confidence in yourself, and then push through anything.”

Fukuoka’s dream of playing at Emerson helped push her to new heights this season. She thinks that Emerson’s recent win against Babson College might indicate that the team is a growing force in the NEWMAC.

“We’re mostly the underdogs . . . a lot of teams kind of take us lightly, just given our past history with our wins and losses record,” Fukuoka said.

Reflecting on the win against Babson, she noted how the entire team was especially excited throughout that particular game, contributing in any way they could to pull out the win.

“I think seeing that also kind of gave confidence to us and the whole team that anything is possible, that moving forward, we can meet any team in this conference,” she said.

When it comes to the team, Fukuoka said the experience has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive for her. Even in her adjustment to college life overall as a freshman, she’s been able to go to her teammates for help and advice. She said that “their support means everything” to her.

“It feels like a brotherhood, to be honest, like built-in brothers,” she added. “I’ve definitely come to [my team] about things that I’ve been struggling with, and they’ve just been there to tell me, ‘you got it, you’re going to push through it.’”

Fukuoka noted how she has been further supported by their new baseball head coach, Billy Uberti, who recently left Lasell University to coach at Emerson this semester. The two teams faced off on Saturday in a doubleheader.

“It’s been an adjustment,” she said, “but you have to buy in pretty quickly to what he’s saying, because everybody has the same goal of winning, right? I feel it’s helped me grow as a person, on and off the field.”

Looking forward, she hopes that as they further mesh as a team, more wins could be in their future.

“I see a lot of potential in this group, and there’s a lot of fighters, and I think that’s what it takes to have a winning baseball team,” she said.

Off the field, Fukuoka said she’s been enjoying her first year at Emerson, learning to balance her academics as a sports communication major with constant practices and games during the season.

“Sometimes it’s been like a struggle to balance time or get assignments in,” she said. “But my professors have also been kind, and I’ve relied on my friends to help me if I was not mentally feeling like the best.”

The transition from her home in California to college life in Boston has also been positive, she explained, noting her appreciation for the East Coast and for the student body at Emerson. 

“It’s pushed me out of my comfort zone. I feel like I’ve really gotten to explore who I am outside of my city . . . moving that far away from home has taught me a lot,” she said. “I’ve gained more independence.”

Though in moving away from home, she took a risk in how people would react to her presence on the baseball team. But she said it has entirely paid off.

“In my hometown, everybody was kind of familiar with me playing baseball, and it was kind of like a known thing,” she said. “Coming out here . . . I was really welcomed in with open arms. I remember in orientation, I had two friends who immediately thought this was the coolest thing ever.”

Such enthusiasm has extended to all areas of her Emerson student experience thus far. Fukuoka said that those on other teams, especially the women’s, have been particularly supportive.

“I still am supported to this day, especially by the Emerson athletes here on the girls’ teams,” she said. “Women supporting women, especially for sports, has been an eye-opening thing, and it’s a great positive thing to see here.”