Riding a Roller Coaster
Filia’s baseball career has been a roller coaster of on-field success and off-field setbacks. He hit .500 as a freshman at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, CA, which tied the school record previously set by Jeff Kent. He went to UCLA after high school and helped the team win the national title as a sophomore, which included a .444 average in the 2013 College World Series. The roller coaster was on an upswing.
Then came a setback. He injured his shoulder in the Cape Cod League that summer and needed labrum surgery, which caused him to miss the 2014 season. In the summer after the missed school season, he was caught plagiarizing part of a philosophy paper, which resulted in another suspension for the 2015 season. The roller coaster was plunging quickly.
After missing two consecutive college seasons, Filia tore up the Northwoods League with the Kenosha Kingfish in the summer of 2015. He was named MVP, and the team won the Summer Collegiate World Championship. Having had that success, Filia asked for a second chance at UCLA, and coach John Savage gave it to him. He hit .295/.415/.411 in 55 games in 2016. Things were looking good again.
The Seattle Mariners drafted him in the 20th round and sent him to Everett to play for the Aquasox, where he had that productive first pro season. The roller coaster was still on the rise again and would continue with his great success during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and the Arizona Fall League.