Ranger of the Week Joey Volchko: Redwood Baseball Star Goes Stanford Commit

By: Keira Bixler

Joey Volchko ‘23 has been an active member of the Redwood athletics community and is planning on attending Stanford University to play baseball after graduation.

Volcko started playing baseball when he was three. He has played in Visalia for twelve to thirteen years.

He says, “Once Covid hit, I started going to Fresno to play. I did not start taking pitching seriously until that summer of Freshman year. Here I am now, 3 years later and signed to Stanford.”

During this time, Volchko says, “A lot of my biggest life lessons have been found through baseball. I learned a lot about collaboration. I was able to figure out the importance of teamwork and it has carried over into other areas of my life.”

When reflecting on his high school baseball career, Volchko says, “Sophomore year I definitely handled some adversity and it was not a great season for me. The biggest thing was coming out junior year and having a great season. It was intimidating but I was eventually able to put that aside and I worked really hard to return to my best level.”

Volchko ’23 pitching against West Clovis High

When overcoming challenges, he says, “Consistency is the most important skill to have. People cannot achieve anything after just one day. If you put together a good routine and have a lot of faith in it, things will workout. Regardless if it is in your initial dream or not, something good will come of it.”

Volchko says that, “I love baseball because it is an escape for me. There is a lot of academic pressure with going to Stanford. So, baseball is an escape. When I am on the field, I don’t think about anything else but baseball.”

He also says that, “This is very predictable, but my mom is my biggest inspiration. She works at the hospital down the street and she works a ton of hours but still manages to find that work/ life balance. I try to model what I do after her.”

Volchko says that a lot of excitement and pressure is put into his future, “It is so exciting to be committed to Stanford. It is still a lot of pressure. My junior and senior year, I was expected to put up a lot of big numbers. Even when you have a bad game, you’re expected to come home to four rigorous classes worth of homework.”

While looking back at his time at Redwood, he says, “Redwood is a big family. When I go to other campuses, it just does not compare to the Redwood community.”

Looking into his future, Volchko says, “My dream is to play baseball for as long as I possibly can. I know that it cannot last forever, so I try to enjoy every day and never take it for granted.”

“I am not just an athlete. I seek intelligence elsewhere in my life. I find a lot of identity in baseball but I am more outside of that.”
-Joey Volchko