PBR CO Friday Spotlight: Interview with Pine Creek SS Riley Cornelio

By Neil Devlin
Senior Writer
Denver Metro Area

Life may not be as fun as being in an amusement park, but then again it may be for Riley Cornelio.

After all, how many kids complete their freshman year of high school, then commit to play baseball at a place such as TCU?

Reached by cell phone while he was having a fun day at Six Flags Over Georgia -- he was traveling to play in a tournament -- Cornelio said "it was awesome, I rode a lot of roller coasters and it was fun."

And he wasn't speaking solely about being at an amusement park.

Cornelio, who will be a sophomore next school year at Pine Creek in Colorado Springs, said he committed to TCU the past Sunday, and it's a rock-solid pledge. It's a three-year wait and he said it will be well worth it.

"I visited there the first week of summer vacation," he said. "It was my birthday present (on June 6) and we went there and I got to meet the coaches and take a tour. I got to see everything ... the baseball complex. I loved it. Met all of the coaches. And later that night we went to a game. Just the atmosphere and the fans ... it was all awesome."

Like another in-state sophomore-to-be and shortstop who has committed so early, Legend's Justin Boyd, to Oregon State, Cornelio said he went ahead to get his recruiting out of the way and termed it "absolutely firm."

Already 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, the 16-year-old, who was born in Hawaii and also lived in New York and Virginia, is a self-described Army brat. His father, Lt. Col. John Cornelio, is retired from the Army. Riley batted .300 for the Class 5A Eagles the past season. He was 15-for-50 with 13 RBIs and eight extra-base hits while batting seventh in the order. He made only two pitching appearances, totaling 3.2 innings for the Eagles (18-3), who were awarded the 5A No. 1 district seed and went out in the second round, to eventual state runner-up Rocky Mountain.

Cornelio, who also played football as a freshman, plans to switch to basketball this coming year to modify his baseball. He has a 4.0 grade-point average.

"I'm excited about TCU," he said. "I'm very, very pumped. I love that school."

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