Baseball: Maria Carrillo grad selected by Boston Red Sox in MLB Draft

Another local alumni heard his name called during the MLB Draft this past weekend.

Josh Volmerding, a 2023 Maria Carrillo grad, was selected in the 8th round with the 244th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox. Volmerding, a 6-foot-4 left handed pitcher, just completed his junior season at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It's not currently known if he will sign a professional contract with Boston or return to school for his senior year.

Volmerding dealt with a knee injury this past spring and missed six of the 2026 season for the Mustangs, but delivered one of the most memorable performances of the year in the postseason upon his return. He pitched six quality innings with a season-high seven strikeouts in a 5-2 win over St. Mary's that clinched the program's first ever NCAA regional title in late May.

Over his three-year career at Cal Poly, Volmerding is 8-6 overall with a 5.05 earned run average. Over 137 ⅓ innings pitched, he's struck out 139 with 52 walks and 146 hits allowed.

Should Volmerding sign with Boston, he'd join another Maria Carrillo alum in their farm system. Austin Ehrlicher, a 2021 Maria Carrillo grad who also played for Santa Rosa Junior College, is currently playing for the Greenville Drive, the Red Sox High-A affiliate. A right-handed pitcher, Ehrlicher was taken in the 18th round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

Volmerding was the only local alumni selected in the draft this year but there were a handful of others that have played local summer ball for the Healdsburg Prune Packers and the Sonoma Stompers.

The Packers had six alumni and one current player taken over the weekend. Hideki Prather, a catcher who just finished his junior season at Cal, was the lone current player drafted. He was taken in the 17th round by the Minnesota Twins.

Former players were drafted are Oregon's Maddox Molony (6th round, 187 overall, Detroit Tigers), Arizona State's Derek Schaefer (7th round, 204 overall, St. Louis Cardinals), Texas' Luke Harrison (8th round, 234 overall, St. Louis Cardinals), Florida State's Cole Stokes (12th round, 353 overall, Tampa Bay Rays), Arizona State's Jaden Alba (14th round, 414 overall, St. Louis Cardinals) and Houston's Alex Solis (14th round, 418 overall, San Francisco Giants).

The Stompers had three former alumni taken over the weekend: Cal State Fullerton's Paul Gutierrez-Contreras (4th round, 127 overall, New York Yankees), Cal Baptist's Alfredo Capacete (14th round, 417 overall, Texas Rangers) and Gonzaga's Mikey Bell (19th round, 568 overall, San Francisco Giants).

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