European Championship Schedule http://competition.europeansoftball.org/2019/ostrava/schedule.php
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – Former North Dakota State University all-region second baseman
Zoe Stavrou is playing for the Greece National Softball Team that begins play in the Women's European Championship on Sunday, June 30, against Great Britain and Switzerland. The tournament runs through July 6.
Stavrou, a native of Long Beach, Calif., is a third generation Greek American. She will be reunited with her sister, Loren, who has been a member of the Greece team since 2014. Loren played collegiately for Farleigh Dickinson. Her great grandparents on her father Steven's side came over to America to escape genocide in Turkey.
"Playing internationally is different than playing for a college so I'm excited to have a new experience. When I play for Greece I'm doing it for my family and ancestors from Greece," said Stavrou. "Both my grandparents that were Greek have passed away and I was extremely close to them. When I'm playing, I'm playing for the honor of them and just trying to make them proud."
If Greece places among the top six teams at the European Championship they will advance to the European/African Olympic qualifier in the Netherlands on July 23-27. The team has been in training camp, June 18-23 in California, and June 25-29 in the Czech Republic. If the team wins, they will stay on the road, training in Greece and the Netherlands.
The Greek roster comprised of players from Arkansas, Babson, Charlotte, Cal State Fullerton, Dayton, DePauw, Lake Forest College, NC State, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Santa Clara, South Dakota, SUNY-Oneonta, UMass-Lowell and Youngstown State.
"It is special getting close to players and some coaches that are the same nationality as my family. We get to build a bond that is more than softball and friendship," said Stavrou. "I am pumped to play with my sister again. We played together one year in high school but playing for Greece with her will be a special and life-changing experience."
A 2018 NFCA All-Midwest Region third team selection, Stavrou will be playing second base for Greece. She started in 213 of 220 games for North Dakota State from 2016-2019. Stavrou was a career .290 hitter for NDSU with 17 home runs, 90 runs scored and 113 RBI. She added 42 doubles, 17 sacrifice bunts, 7 sacrifice flies, 6 steals and a triple.
Stavrou, who had a .442 slugging percentage and .980 fielding percentage, was a two-time all-Summit League performer including first-team honors in 2018. She was named to the Summit League all-tournament team in 2018 and was a two-time Summit League Player of the Week.
North Dakota State finished the 2019 season with a 42-16 record. NDSU won its eighth regular season and 10th tournament championship to advance to the NCAA tournament.
