“I grew up in a very big Greek household, and the two things that I’m most passionate about are Greece and baseball. It’s nice to have both of them combined together,” said Lexington High School rising senior and first baseman Aki Stamoulis, who will be representing Greece in the U-23 European Baseball Championships in Valencia, Spain, this coming August.
Stamoulis stands to be the youngest player on the Greek National U-23 Baseball Team, Hellas, at only 17 years old (the U-23 team is made up of players age 23 and under). When players age out of the U-23 team, they may go on to play for the senior national team. “Playing alongside others who could be up to six years older than me, with a national team, is a huge milestone for someone,” Stamoulis said.
“I visit Greece every year. Greek food is definitely my favorite kind of cuisine, and I speak Greek fluently with my grandfather. Greece isn’t just my ethnicity — it’s my whole spirit and personality.”
Through his older cousin, who played for Hellas two years ago, Stamoulis learned that Hellas had several open spots after a few former players aged out of the U-23 team. Stamoulis contacted the coach, Scott Demetral, and sent him highlight videos of his games, along with his recruiting information. Two months later, Demetral offered him a spot on the team.
“I took the spot, obviously, because Greece is my country,” Stamoulis said. Stamoulis now has a permanent position on Hellas and is on track to compete for the senior Hellas team once he turns 23 years old.
Stamoulis will arrive in Valencia in time for his first team practice on August 2. The following day, the team will scrimmage against the Spanish U-23 team before formally playing against Switzerland on August 5 and Spain on August 6. On August 7, Hellas will compete in a seeding round, and on August 8, they will move on to the championship round. Points won in the European Baseball Championships will count towards the World Baseball Classic, which Greece can qualify for if they earn a minimum of 83 points.
Stamoulis believes that the few days he has before competing to get to know his teammates are sufficient. “We’re all Greek, so we all have something in common. I feel like it’ll be a lot easier to gel [because of that],” he said.
Only one player on the current roster is actually a Greek resident — all other players are members of the Greek diaspora who hold Greek citizenship (which is required to play for the team). This is likely due to baseball’s weak presence in Greece, Stamoulis concludes. “I think they have one [baseball] facility in Athens, and they try and do baseball camps, but that’s pretty much it,” he said. “One thing that I want to do is spread baseball in Greece.”
Stamoulis has been playing baseball his entire life and currently plays for both the LHS team and the Nor’Easters, a local club team. Baseball practices and strength training seem to occupy the majority of Stamoulis’s time; he partakes in baseball-related activities six days per week, including hitting, catching, and sprint work. Hellas does not have a specific training plan for its athletes in the weeks leading up to the tournament. So, with the help of a former LHS teammate who now plays college baseball, Stamoulis is keeping himself on his own training schedule.
“It’s a dream come true, because I’ve always been passionate and very proud of my heritage, and the fact that I get to represent my country is awesome, especially because my cousin played on the team,” Stamoulis said. He is especially eager to compete as he perceives it to be a way to acknowledge how far his family has come since first immigrating to the United States.
“My grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Athens when he was 17. He moved here, went to Northeastern University, and got an engineering degree. He came up from nothing and supported my whole family, and built our foundation here in the US, and reached that American dream,” Stamoulis said. “I want to do well [in the tournament] for him, to show him my appreciation, and make him proud. I mean, who doesn’t want to make their grandparents proud?”
Stamoulis’s grandfather will be watching him compete in Valencia, along with the rest of his immediate family.
Hellas is underfunded by Greece, so each player fundraises to support the team’s efforts. To ensure that Stamoulis has adequate accommodations and equipment while he is representing Greece in the U-23 European Baseball Championships, please donate here.