Fox Chapel’s Elias George sharpens skills with Swedish 18U baseball team

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, August 2, 2025 | 11:06 AM

Previous Next

Elias George enjoyed making an annual summer trip with his family to visit his mom, Eva’s native Sweden. But when he turned 10, Elias started to ask a few practical questions.

The now-Fox Chapel junior wanted to make sure his baseball skills stayed sharp. He wasn’t sure Sweden had baseball fields to practice on. Elias and his dad, Jeff, looked at Google Maps and found a field close to his grandparents house.

Their daily routine of playing catch and hitting at the field led to a series of events that recently earned Elias a spot on the Swedish 18U baseball team. Elias’ first taste of action overseas was when he played for the Leksand Lumber Jacks in the Mosquito Cup in 2019.

“One day when we went down to the field, there were tons of kids at the field,” Elias said. “One of the coaches approached me about what I was doing here and where I’m from. I went and played with them in a tournament in Sundsvall and I enjoyed the team. One of the coaches said after the tournament I was a good ballplayer and if I kept up my Swedish, maybe someday I could play on the national team.”

Elias, who plays catcher, hit .353 in five appearances for Sweden in July. Elias drove in nine runs and hit home runs against Poland and Lithuania. He helped Sweden finish 4-0 in during the 18U European Championship pool.

Sweden lost 4-2 to Poland in the final. Elias drew a walk and scored a run in the defeat.

Sweden 18U coach Roderick Hopkins said he hopes Elias will continue to develop and earn a spot on the U23 squad.

“There are approximately 700 licensed baseball players in Sweden (all ages) and we will need to grow this number in order to get more attention to the sport,” Hopkins said via email. “The youth players in the United States with a Swedish connection have an important role to play: both to strengthen our rosters, but also to get the personal connections for our players.”

Elias took the challenge seriously to learn Swedish. He considers himself fluent in Swedish and it is his “1A” language to English.

In addition to using programs online, Eva said that Elias can practice through the Scandinavian Society of Western Pennsylvania, which has around 200 families locally.

“When I played with my teammates over there, we strictly spoke Swedish on the baseball field,” Elias said. “When we were back in the dorms, we spoke both English and Swedish.”

The most recent World Baseball and Softball Confederation has Sweden ranked 30th in the world. Hopkins said one of the challenges Sweden faces for the sports’ growth is locating the equipment for players.

Specifically, Hopkins said it is difficult to track down things if they want a certain color or customized item.

“There are no physical shops for baseball equipment apart from some basic stuff,” Hopkins said. “We can order on-line from sites in the Netherlands or Poland and sometimes they also show up at youth tournaments. If you want special stuff, it is usually bought in the United States.”’

The Georges’ have made it a point to bring extra equipment with them when they make trips to Sweden. Elias has organized fundraisers to collect baseball bats and gloves people are no longer using.

“We would always bring a lot of gear every time we go over,” Jeff said. “We work through local organizations to collect extra items to take over to these boys.”

Eva, who came to Pittsburgh in 1997 and graduated from Robert Morris, said she enjoys having something to share with her son.

“It’s close to Elias’ heart and mine,” Eva said.

Tags: Fox Chapel