There’s something in the water at Pine Creek High School.

For the second straight year the Eagles’ baseball team has produced a Gatorade Colorado Baseball Player of the Year.

Pine Creek senior Riley Cornelio was announced as the 2018-19 selection Thursday morning, a year after 2018 Pine Creek graduate Justin Olson was selected.

Through his senior year Cornelio, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-handed pitcher, posted a 2.43 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched. He batted .418 with two home runs, 28 RBIs and a .512 on-base percentage.

But months prior to his first pitch in an Eagle uniform, Cornelio made his name known on the world stage, competing in the U18 Pan-American Championships for Team USA, helping the team to the Pan-Am title. To add to his experience overseas, Cornelio also signed his National Letter of Intent to play baseball at TCU while competing in Panama.

In December, Cornelio was ranked in the top 50 2019 baseball draft prospects according to ProspectsLive.com, and is projected to be a top round of the 2019 draft, beginning June 3.

According to the release sent by Gatorade, Cornelio is a member of the National Honor Society and volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of America, as an elementary school literacy-outreach program, and is a youth tutor and baseball instructor.

“Riley Cornelio has proven to be mentally tough and extremely competitive player,” Pine Creek coach Glenn Millhauser said in the release. “He takes his commitment to baseball very seriously. He is gifted with great hands, a strong arm, good speed and hits for average and power.”

Cornelio is the third baseball player to be selected from Pine Creek in seven years. Ryan Warner was selected in 2012.

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