Cooper Malamazian paused on the dugout step and took a deep breath before stepping onto the turf at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Moments later, he turned to the sky and pointed upward. It was a quiet, familiar gesture meant to slow everything down in a sport that keeps moving.
For Malamazian, that moment isn’t just routine. It’s necessary.
The ability to reset and breathe has become the foundation of who he is, both as a baseball player and as a person.
Malamazian committed to Indiana in October 2021. Three years later, he was picked No. 515 overall during the 17th round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
But even before he reached Indiana, Malamazian played under high expectations.
He arrived at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, Illinois, 18 miles outside of downtown Chicago, in fall 2020 as a 14-year-old freshman. When spring came around, Malamazian stepped into a role many players his age don’t reach until years later: playing on varsity.
He didn’t just play on varsity, he was a starting shortstop at the highest level of high school baseball and succeeding against players three or four years older than him.
Nazareth head coach Lee Milano said there wasn’t much of an adjustment period, despite him entering high school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That kid was a leader from the get-go,” Milano said. “And he had all intangibles that you look for in a leader, even at a young age.”
That early responsibility shaped everything that followed. Nazareth wasn’t a program built around individual stars or selfishness. Milano didn’t name captains. Everyone was expected to lead.
And from the beginning, Malamazian fit the mold.
“He surrounded himself with winners,” Milano said. “He knows how to win. He knows how to lead.”
Winning, as Milano mentioned, became part of Malamazian’s identity.
In his four years, Nazareth went 132-25, winning back-to-back IHSA 3A State titles in 2022 and 2023. Malamazian was a three-time all-state player in his own right. During his senior season, Nazareth went 37-1 in the state’s highest classification.
But the success didn’t come without challenges.
During his junior year, Malamazian battled a hamstring injury for much of the season. With Nazareth going 34-6 and making a postseason run, Milano said the shortstop returned but only recorded 72 at-bats and “wasn’t 100%.”
Malamazian later dealt with mononucleosis in the summer which limited his exposure to MLB scouts on the national stage after the high school season ended.
“He wasn’t able to do, really, the summer circuit that most kids do between junior and senior season nationally,” Milano said. “If people would have seen that kid nationally between his junior and senior year, he would have been a top five round pick.”
Despite the ups and downs, Milano never questioned what he saw.
“There are some days where you’re going to go 0 for 3 or 0 for 4 with three, four strikeouts,” he said. “And you got to be able to bounce back, and I think Cooper has that mentality to be successful because I think he’s mentally tough.”
If talent set the foundation, mentality became the separator.
Baseball demands mental fortitude, and Malamazian doesn’t let the failure get to him. It’s another one of the unique traits he possesses.
“In my opinion, it’s one of the hardest sports in the world,” Malamazian said. “But the moment can never be too big because at the end of the day, it’s just a game, just a sport you’ve been doing since you were little.”
The game forces players to confront setbacks daily. For some, it becomes overwhelming. But for Malamazian, it became something else entirely as he began to get get better at “learning how to fail.”
“Honestly, it’s crazy to say I love failing sometimes because that’s the way you grow,” he said. “But that’s just the way it goes.”
That mindset didn’t develop overnight. It was reinforced through years of mentorship by Milano and MLB Hall of Famer Jim Thome, who was hired as an assistant coach at Nazareth when his son Landon came into the academy in 2022, ahead of Malamazian’s junior year.
For a high school player, having a mentor who hit 612 home runs during 22 seasons in the MLB around the program is rare. And Malamazian embraced the opportunity, looking to grow and develop under Thome’s wing.
“Having him as a great mind was a one-of-one experience,” Malamazian said. “You don’t have many guys playing college baseball that could tell you about having a Hall of Famer as a coach in high school, so that was a special experience as well.”
During his senior season, Milano said Malamazian felt the pressure of being watched under a “microscope.” But Thome and Milano advised Malamazian to lean more into the basics of the game to alleviate the pressure he was feeling.
“I had to talk with Thome and a few other guys, and some even like friend's dads who came up to me, they're like, ‘Listen, you're still a 17-year-old kid,’” Malamazian said. “‘Go out there and have fun.’”
By the end of his senior season, Malamazian had shown enough talent and potential to be selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 17th round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
For most players, the opportunity to play professional baseball in the Brewers system would be too enticing to pass up. However, Malamazian bet on himself and opted for the college baseball route, which landed him in Bloomington as the No. 11 overall player and No. 3 shortstop in Illinois by Perfect Game.
“It was a surreal experience, for sure, going through the whole senior year and the whole draft phase of it,” Malamazian said. “It’s definitely a lot to handle for a 17, 18 year old for sure.”
Ultimately, the decision wasn’t about turning down baseball; it was about shaping a different path.
“I wanted the college experience,” Malamazian said. “I wanted to come here to play for a prestigious university like Indiana. It's been a dream of mine to play college baseball. It’s competitive, it’s fun. Obviously, I passed on a great experience, but I think this one's better, and it's been well worth it so far.”
Even after being selected in the MLB Draft, the transition to college baseball wasn’t seamless.
Like many freshmen, he learned success at one level doesn’t guarantee anything at the next. He struggled during fall workouts. The adjustment to faster pitching, harder competition and increased expectations was real.
“I wasn’t the best player, even remotely close to being a starter that fall,” Malamazian said. “And obviously it takes a lot of hard work and coming in here after hours and before hours, and you get extra work in and work with the coaches.”
Those hours of work paid off. By the time the season arrived, Malamazian had earned his way onto the field.
He started in 46 games as a freshman. Of those, 33 starts came at shortstop, while the other 13 were at third base, after former Hoosier Josh Pyne medically redshirted the season. He finished the season batting .320 with a .906 OPS in 172 at-bats.
Heading into his sophomore year, Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer called Malamazian “personable” to the rest of his teammates during the Hoosiers’ media day Jan. 28.
“Cooper had to come in and kind of win out the shortstop job as a young player,” Mercer said. “He was on the main draft circuit and the main stage. When he's talking to other young guys who will have to step in and play this year, he’s able to be relatable to them.”
Malamazian struggled at the beginning of his sophomore season. He committed four errors through the first four contests.
Yet in the month of April, he has turned the outlook of his season around. He has batted 24 for 65 (.369) and held a 13-game hit streak from April 3 - April 21 — something that hasn't surprised Mercer.
“He stays in the fight. He wants to work,” Mercer said. “He’s not a guy who feels sorry for himself... he’s really just blossoming as a player and a young man; he takes accountability.”
The 6-foot-2 infielder is batting .306 with a .850 OPS in 173 at-bats this season. Still, Mercer believes there is more to be desired.
“I think he’s really close to opening it up and kind of taking off to another level,” Mercer said. “There’s a gear, a level, that’s coming really soon for him and he’s working his way there diligently on a day-to-day basis.”
Even to this day, the game hasn’t changed for Malamazian.
There are times when the ball doesn’t fall. Days when nothing feels right. Moments where failure stacks up.
That’s when he returns to what he’s built his game on.
A breath. A pause. A glance toward the sky.
It’s a small moment, but one shaped by years of pressure, expectation and growth.
“The moment can never be too big,” Malamazian said. “When the big at-bats come, the big plays come, you got to just trust yourself and trust your preparation you’ve had your whole life.”
Before he leaves Indiana, whenever that may be, Malamazian isn’t focused on numbers or accolades.
“I want to get some wins, man,” he said. “It's all I care about.”
It’s a simple goal, but one that aligns with everything he’s done so far. From a 14-year-old leading a varsity team, to a draft pick choosing development over immediacy, to a college shortstop still learning and growing.
In a sport where failure is unavoidable, Malamazian has learned to embrace it.
Because for him, that’s where the game, and his journey, truly begins.
