Cornelio's first MLB win comes at park where he went to games as a kid

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DENVER -- “Did I warm up in this bullpen before?”

The thought entered Riley Cornelio’s mind as he prepared to take the mound for the Nationals on Monday. Cornelio had pitched at Coors Field nearly a decade earlier in 2017. As a standout at Pine Creek High School, he was named to the Colorado High School All-Star/Futures Game.

Cornelio didn’t have time to ponder the flashback. His name had been called in the Nats’ bullpen, and there was a cheering section of friends and family anticipating his hometown ballpark debut.

Turns out, Cornelio was warming up for his first Major League win, too.

“It’s definitely crazy to think about,” Cornelio said. “Obviously, you’re trying to settle in and get comfortable. For myself and for my family and people close to us, it’s at the same time such an experience and can be very emotional.

“You’re trying to really stay relaxed and go out and perform, but also you’re feeling like, ‘Wow, this is a really cool moment and I worked a long time to get here.’”

Cornelio earned his first career ‘W’ by pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in the Nationals’ 7-3 victory. He stayed poised after issuing back-to-back one-out walks in the sixth inning by stranding the runners on base. Cornelio made noticeable strides from his April 24 debut, when he allowed three runs (two earned) off two hits and four walks against the White Sox.

“The truth of the matter is, in my debut I was coming in in a one-run game, walked the first two guys I faced, threw my first PFP into right field, and I was like, ‘I don't think it's going to get harder than that,’” Cornelio said. “So at this point, you get into a situation where it is a one-run game and you run into some trouble or pitch yourself into a bad situation, and I was able to draw on experiences where it has been tougher in the past to collect myself, collect my thoughts, try to buckle down and make better pitches -- and be myself.”

Cornelio, 26, was born in Honolulu and moved to Colorado Springs when he was 5 years old. His father is from Maine, so he grew up a Red Sox fan, but he attended Rockies games at Coors Field as he pursued his own big league dream.

During high school, Cornelio was named the 2018 Gatorade Colorado Baseball Player of the Year. He also won a gold medal with the stacked Team USA squad at the COPABE U-18 Pan American Championships.

“Anytime you're in the Major Leagues -- especially when he's new to the Major Leagues -- when you can do what he did last night in a place he grew up with family, with friends here, there aren't many people that get that opportunity to do so,” said manager Blake Butera. “Hopefully, he takes a lot away from that.”

After three seasons at Texas Christian University, the Nationals selected Cornelio in the seventh round of the 2022 Draft. The Colorado baseball community has been cheering him on along the way. With these accomplishments, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Cornelio found out his elementary school teachers still keep up with his career.

“I got some texts [after earning the win] from people that I grew up with that have been following,” Cornelio said. “That's kind of the best part about baseball -- you get to stay in touch with those guys or you get to see them again. It’s been awesome.”

Just eight games into his big league career, Cornelio already achieved a moment that can last a lifetime. Butera hopes Cornelio cherishes those 29 pitches and what they meant for him.

“Hopefully, his family and friends take a lot away from that and they [took] a lot of pictures and videos,” Butera said. “That's something he's going to remember forever. One day when he grows up, and if he decides to have kids and a family, that's something he'll probably tell his kids and [those pictures will] probably be hanging inside of his house somewhere.”