Celebrating Who He Is

Elijah Lambros received an email one day as an underclassman at Fredericksburg Christian School. 

He never responded to that email, thinking it was spam. He even showed it to his father, but he also had doubts. The email Lambros received claimed to be from a recruiter for the Greece national baseball team. They invited him to join the team and even offered to pay for everything during his overseas stay. He was occupied with summer ball and other stuff and paid no mind. 

Two years later — as a senior — Lambros opened a strikingly similar email. He informed his dad once again, and this time, his dad thought they should look into it. So, the father and son booked a flight out of the country, but they still didn’t know 100% if it was real.    

They arrived at the hotel where the Greek national team was allegedly staying. Lambros spotted an older man dressed in the vibrant blue color associated with the Greek flag. He approached the man, thinking he was the team's coach.  

“I walk up to him, and I'm like, ‘Coach, what's up? I'm Elijah,’” he said. “He's like, ‘Oh, buddy, I'm a player.’” I didn't realize that this isn't just college players. It's any age. He was telling me he has a family. He's got a house in Chicago, a house in Greece and all this stuff.”

The emails were real, and Lambros made the team known as Hellas. At the time, Perfect Game ranked him the No. 7 overall player and the No. 1 outfielder in Virginia for the class of 2021. 

Lambros later competed in the 2022 Prague Week Tournament after transferring to Maryland and spending his freshman year at South Carolina. He competed in the tournament, which is held every two years, for a second time this past summer, going a perfect 4-0 and winning a championship while competing in Group B against Slovakia, Lithuania, Austria and Hungary.  

Coming off his junior season at Maryland, Lambros led Hellas with three home runs and seven RBIs in the 2024 tournament. 

“It's really cool to be able to represent a country in that way, especially a country that you're proud of,” Lambros said. “Just growing up, it was always Greek this, Greek that. You're Greek. You should be proud of it. You carry the last name, Lambros.”

Lambros’ Maryland head coach, Matt Swope, was a major proponent of his decision to play internationally. He believes experiences as such can have a more significant positive impact on an individual outside of just baseball.  

“I think anytime guys can get exposed to that international stage, it's really special,” Swope said. “When you get international experience and travel, I think it opens your mind and palette a little bit to more worldly views, shapes you and gives you a little bit of maturity. [I’m] always trying to support these guys with things like that, especially representing family, heritage and lineage.”

The senior outfielder’s father and his side of the family boast Greek heritage. His great-great-grandparents and other family members migrated separately to the United States from the island of Kos, seeking a better life in the early 1900s.

Lambros’ great-great-grandfather immigrated to Staten Island by ship and eventually settled in Reading, Pennsylvania. There, he worked as a candy maker in a factory and made enough money to bring the rest of his family over. In the meantime, his great-great-grandmother migrated and settled in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Her side of the family set up several businesses there. Lambros’ great-great-grandfather then moved to Hyannis and worked as a shoemaker.  

Despite a century passing since his family migrated to the U.S., Lambros’ Greek heritage is a big part of him. He refers to his grandfather as “Pappous” and his grandmother as “Yaya.” Both are the Greek translations of each family member. Lambros’ family also celebrates Greek Orthodox Easter and all other commonly celebrated Greek holidays. 

“Greek culture has always been a big part of our lives,” said Stephen Lambros, Elijah’s father. “I think that that means something when your family goes and fights and sacrifices for the country that they are assimilating into.”

Given his family’s history, Stephen is incredibly proud to see Elijah represent his country and show a deep appreciation and understanding of his family's origins and their sacrifices to give him a better life. 

“It means a lot to me, but what's awesome about it is it brings diversity to the Greek people,” Stephen said. “It's a celebration of who he is, and he's someone who sees a bigger picture. He puts others before himself and has a heart of gratitude.”

Despite his strong Greek allegiance, Elijah has never been to Greece. With the national team often competing in other countries, he has only competed with Hellas in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.  

A major factor is that although baseball is a growing sport in the country, it isn’t a big sport in Greece. As a result, baseball has not seen significant investment. There aren’t many baseball fields, and many existing ones aren’t adequately maintained.  

The team's recruitment efforts reflect the lack of investment and interest in baseball. As with Elijah, they often scout rosters for Greek last names and email people. He pointed out the challenges with such a method. If one’s mom is Greek and dad isn’t, and that person takes on their father’s last name that’s not Greek, the team has no way of knowing.  

“I wish they would build more stuff there, but that's what they plan to do,” Elijah said. “I've talked with the coaches. They want to make this a huge ordeal. They want to build facilities, they want to have tryouts, they want to make cuts and make it a huge organization, just because there are so many Greek American baseball players that are over here.”

With the help of the national team, Elijah is working towards obtaining his Greek citizenship. Once he gets it, he will likely compete in more tournaments with Hellas and visit his home country. 

Greece fielded a baseball team at the Olympics during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. It was its first and only time doing so. Elijah believes Greece can return to the Olympic games and become a regular participant shortly. He hopes to be a part of its return when that day comes.  

“When I got to throw on the Hellas Jersey, it really just meant something different,” Elijah said. “There's just something different about throwing on a country that you're attached to, come from and are proud of.”