Former Edison and UCLA standout Eric Filia selected for USA Olympic baseball team

Eric Filia takes a swing while a member of the UCLA baseball team. (Photo courtesy UCLA Athletic Communications)

Former Edison High and UCLA outfielder Eric Filia has been selected to represent the United States at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games as part of the 24-man roster, UCLA athletic officials announced Friday.

Filia, from Huntington Beach, was at UCLA from 2012 to 2016.

Filia is the fourth Bruin baseball alumnus to play for USA Baseball at the Olympics, and the first since 1996, according to a release from UCLA Athletic Communications, Previous Bruins who competed in the Olympics are Troy Glaus (1996), Jim Parque (1996), and Shane Mack (1984).

Before attending UCLA, the 28-year-old Filia, the oldest son of Irvine resident Mike Filia, was a standout player at Edison HIgh School in Huntington Beach where he graduated from in 2011. He was the Sunset League MVP his senior year and was All-CIF.

“As a freshman he broke Jeff Kent’s hits record and tied the record for average at .500,” his father said. “He was offered a scholarship by UCLA that following summer.”

Team USA will open the Olympic Games baseball tournament against Israel on Friday, July 30, 2021, joining the Dominican Republic, Israel, Japan, Korea, and Mexico in the six-team field.

Baseball is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Team USA has won two gold medals in baseball (1988, 2000). Glaus and Parque helped the U.S. capture a bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996.

A member of the Seattle Mariners organization, Filia is one of 14 members of the roster who helped Team USA qualify for the Olympics at the Baseball Americas Qualifier in June.

Batting cleanup and playing right field in every game for Team USA, Filia had an excellent tournament, slashing .313/.389/.563 with one home run and five RBI in four games. He was 2-for-4 with two RBI in a tourney-opening 7-1 win over Nicaragua on May 31, then hit a go-ahead home run as part of a two-hit day in Team USA’s 4-2 victory over Venezuela on Jun. 5 which clinched an Olympics berth.

Filia is in his fifth season of pro ball, all in the Seattle organization. He’s a career .314 hitter in the Minors, including a 2019 season in which he batted .331. Filia has spent the last two seasons (except for 2020) in Triple-A Tacoma.

A two-year starter at UCLA, Filia batted .283 over 141 career games with four home runs and 73 RBI. He was the starting right fielder on UCLA’s 2013 National Championship squad, leading the team in hits (68) and multi-hit games (20) and earning All-CWS Team honors. As a senior in 2016, he batted a career-high .295 with 32 RBI en route to Pac-12 All-Conference honors before being drafted in the 20th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by Seattle.

“Eric’s road throughout his baseball career has presented him with challenges but I’m proud that he has learned from them and that his perseverance and determination is paying off,” his father said.

Longtime college and professional coach Jerry Weinstein, also a former UCLA player, will coach first base at the Tokyo Olympics.

—Courtesy UCLA Athletic Communications; Tim Burt contributed to this story

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