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WestConn Grad Awaits Call To Play Baseball For Greece

DANBURY, Conn. -- Western Connecticut State University graduate Angelo Tsingerliotis of Norwalk is awaiting a call on whether he will play for the Greek national baseball team in the European Championship for the second time.

WestConn graduate Angelo Tsingerliotis, center, seen here with his Greek National Team teammates in Greece in 2012, is awaiting an invitation back to the team for the 2014 European Championship.

WestConn graduate Angelo Tsingerliotis, center, seen here with his Greek National Team teammates in Greece in 2012, is awaiting an invitation back to the team for the 2014 European Championship.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of WCSU

Tsingerliotis, also a Trinity Catholic High School graduate, played for Greece in the European Championships in 2012. He is hoping to represent the country of his ancestors again in the 2014 games in Prague.

“Playing for the country of my heritage was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, one that I will remember forever,” Tsingerliotis said in a statement. “It was much more than representing a town, a state or even a college. I was representing millions in Greece with the word ‘Hellas’ on the front of my jersey."

Tsingerliotis, who played for the men's soccer team at WestConn in Danbury, was selected for the 2012 Greek national team after a successful tryout in Athens. He had a batting average of more than .300 for Spartakos Glyfadas, a leading team in Greece’s Champions League.

The highlight of the tournament was his start in a game against Croatia, where he delivered a hit and drove in a run in a 7-2 victory, Tsingerliotis said.

His tournament experience was cut short by a shoulder injury, but the excitement of being a member of the Greek national team has lingered long after the competition’s end.

“After the games, kids would line up and we would sign autographs for them, and just seeing their faces was worth a million words," Tsingerliotis said in the statement.

Tsingerliotis will return to his high school alma mater this fall as an assistant soccer coach for the Trinity Catholic boys soccer team.

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