Lindenwood outfielder and first baseman Filip Sarota, 22, was introduced to baseball in Poland by his mother at a young age. Sarota made the jump to America when he was 16, moved without his family and attended Life Prep Academy in Wichita, Kansas for two years.
Sarota has also played internationally for Poland since he was 15 years old.
He attended a JUCO school (Highland Community College in Kansas) and played two seasons there. Before the 2024 season, he transferred to Lindenwood, a Division I program in the Ohio Valley Conference.
This season, he is off to a fast start in 12 games with four home runs, 12 RBI, and 1.109 OPS in 44 at-bats.
Sarota is the only active Poolish player in D1 Baseball and he spoke with World Baseball Network about his Poolish roots and baseball journey.
Filip Sarota, the only active Polish-born NCAA Division I player had a big weekend for Lindenwood. The 1B/OF from Warszawa went deep twice and is already only 3 HR away from matching his 2024 total pic.twitter.com/a8KtXaeqWq
— Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24) February 18, 2025
“My mother signed me up for baseball when I was young because she thought it was an exotic sport,” Sarota told World Baseball Network. “I wasn’t really competing. I was just having fun with it and then when I was 16 I decided to move to America.”
Since moving to America, Sarota’s family has not returned, but he still spends his summers in Poland. He expects his family to return to Lindenwood when he graduates this year or next. He has an extra year of eligibility because he played JUCO.
Sarota played outfield in his first season with Lindenwood in 2024 but also learned to play first base. He is now their full-time first baseman.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help make the team better,” Sarota said.
Sarota was asked about the differences between playing in JUCO and D1 Baseball.
“JUCO got me physically ready to play in Division I but it’s way different and it takes adjustment because the speed of the game is way faster now,” Sarota told World Baseball Network.
He was inspired to play D1 Baseball when he saw a YouTube Clip of a Vanderbilt player and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“I played in three high schools because of the pandemic but I’m still happy where I ended up,” Sarota said.
Sarota also played for Team Poland in the European Baseball Championship this past summer. In four games with Poland, he had three home runs and 8 RBI in 17 at-bats.
“Players would struggle to transition between international play and D1 Baseball because it’s much slower without any timers in international competition,” Sarota said. “It’s also challenging to play at the end of the season because I’m tired after the college season.
Another challenge he faces is playing in a ballpark that drastically favors pitchers. Although he’s doing his part, leading Lindenwood with four home runs, his home ballpark is Lou Brock Sports Complex.
“Every road trip we go to I feel like it’s a launching pad,” Sarota said. “It’s so windy the wind is always blowing in every game and the field dimensions are deep with high walls.”
He mentioned that the ball has to be hit 108 MPH to go out of 322 feet down the lines, 385 feet in the gaps, and 400 feet to center with a 25-foot fence in height.
Sarota is a fan of the World Baseball Classic and would suit up for Poland if they ever qualified. Moreover, he played in the Czech Republic this past summer in one of their leagues.
This time was highlighted by Sarota hitting two home runs against Ondrej Satoria, the pitcher that struck out Shohei Ohtani for Team Czech Republic in the 2023 WBC.
“It was really cool to watch the Czech Republic play with engineers and electricians against Japan and several other countries.” Sarota said, “In terms of the home runs he just hit my barrels.”
Lindenwood is 6-6 and their next game will be home against Butler on March 7 at 1 p.m. at Lou Brock Sports Complex.
