I’d like to introduce you to my neighbor Tom.

To the newest pitcher in Major League Baseball – Riley Cornelio of the Washington Nationals – Tom is known as Pop-Pop.

To my family, Tom is that neighbor you dream of having. He moved next door about six years ago from Northern California to be close to his daughter and son-in-law, Stephanie and John Cornelio. Tom is ceaselessly friendly, never hesitates to lend out a tool and even opens a bedroom when we have an overflow crowd of visiting family (my parents have begun to prefer Tom’s house and hospitality to the chaos we offer with three teenagers).

Tom is now something of a surrogate grandfather for my girls and can routinely be found cheering them on at a play or ballgame. His stipulation in allowing me to write this was noting how proud he is of them. OK, twist my arm.

I first met Tom while shoveling snow. He had just moved in and mentioned his grandson was a ballplayer at TCU by way of Pine Creek. I had recently written about a Pine Creek pitcher who was headed to TCU. What were the odds?

Riley, along with Tom’s other three grandchildren, has crept into most of our conversations since. We’ve chatted about Riley’s time with the Horned Frogs. His selection in the seventh round by the Nationals in 2022. His search for footing through his first two minor league seasons. His breakthrough 2025 season. And the inevitability of a promotion to the big leagues this year after strong showings in spring training and through his first four Triple-A starts.

You can imagine the pride and joy Tom felt in sharing the news that Riley, who moved to Monument at the age of 5, had received the call-up for Friday night’s game at the Chicago White Sox.

I watched the game in Tom’s living room. What an honor. He beamed when Riley was interviewed in the pregame, when No. 74 trotted onto the field to pitch in the seventh inning and when Stephanie, John and their daughter, Katie, a teacher in North Carolina, were interviewed on the Nationals’ broadcast.  

Riley’s performance, like many debuts, was doubtlessly impacted by nerves. He walked the first two batters and made a throwing error after fielding a bunt. Then he settled in. His first strikeout came when a slider buckled Chase Meidroth. He hit 98 mph on the radar gun multiple times and completed two innings. He didn’t allow a barreled ball, and despite the control issues, kept the Nationals in the game. They ultimately lost 5-4, stranding the tying run on third in the ninth. Cornelio was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs, two earned.

The results, ultimately, will matter. Tonight can be excused. This was about the 25-year-old making it. He’s a big leaguer. And all those who have been a part of it, even simply by befriending his grandfather, were able to share in it.

This is what makes sports and their monumental achievements so special. They are the property of everyone involved, and those tentacles spread wide.

“It has been a walk down memory lane on some levels over the last day and a half,” Riley’s father, John, said Friday afternoon from Chicago shortly after the Nationals officially announced the transaction that brought Riley to the big leagues from Triple-A Rochester.

John had heard from old military buddies, high school basketball teammates from Maine and the full “baseball family” that stretched back to Riley’s days as a 7-year-old on the Colorado Springs Rippers.

Riley’s moment was theirs, too.

This is a massive deal for Pine Creek, where Riley’s banner hangs in the gym as the Gatorade Colorado Baseball Player of the Year in 2019 and where his mother works as a guidance counselor. Riley is the first alumnus to reach the majors, this coming about three years after JoJo Domann became the first former Eagle in the NFL.

It’s for his coaches, teammates, classmates, trainers and even the victims of his 220 high school strikeouts. They all now have a story to tell. Those three players who homered off Riley in high school? Their feat just added some serious weight.

Riley was the 23,665^th player to appear in a major league baseball game since the Fort Wayne Kekiongas hosted the Cleveland Forest Citys on May 4, 1871. Each player in history could fit in a current big-league park and be separated by an empty seat. It’s a small fraternity.

Fewer than 20 high school players from the Colorado Springs area have appeared in an MLB game. There have certainly been some good ones, like Hall of Famer Goose Gossage (Wasson), but it’s a staggeringly small percentage of those who play the game and even of those who were drafted.

For Riley, the odds were never a concern.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a Plan B,” his father said. “One of the things we’ve said is if you have a Plan B, then Plan A never works out. This has been his focus and his dream since he was a very young kid. Yeah, there’s ups and downs, but he’s a very resilient young man. It’s been an amazing journey.”

It’s been a journey tracked and cheered by his full community. Including me and my family.

My sports-crazed 13-year-old daughter has become a massive Riley Cornelio fan, with a personalized autographed baseball card counted among her prized possessions. This is a girl who lines up early at games for the chance at an up-close brush with the pros. The thought of one popping in next door? Crazy!

My connection to Tom and, by extension, Riley, is only one of the thousands in our large, but also small, city.

Riley’s arrival in the big leagues is something we can all share. You, me, and most certainly Pop-Pop. All who felt the impact can consider themselves neighbors.

CALL-UP CONNECTION CONUNDRUM

Riley Cornelio’s first call after being promoted to the Washington Nationals went to his father. It went unanswered.

John Cornelio, a 20-year Army veteran who retired as a lieutenant colonel, continues to work in the defense industry and was on an overnight assignment at NORAD inside Cheyenne Mountain. He didn’t have access to his cellphone.

Riley called his mother, Stephanie, and eventually they were able to link John in on a conference call.

“I could tell a little bit by the way my wife was nervously trying to get me on the line and connected to him. … I thought maybe some good news was coming,” John said Friday afternoon. “I knew he was throwing the ball really well (in Triple-A) and we were hoping this day would come, but you don’t know for sure if it’s going to. But when she called and said, ‘You need to talk to Riley,’ I could kind of hear her voice quivering. I kind of had a feeling some good news was to come.”

The Cornelios received the call Thursday morning and were quickly on a flight, paid for by the Nationals, en route to Chicago. John and Stephanie arrived at O’Hare International Airport in the evening, right around the time Riley and his sister, Katie, landed. The family was able to share a ride to the hotel and enjoy a dinner to celebrate the milestone.

“It means the world to be up here with these guys,” Cornelio told the Nats Journal prior to a 5-4 loss to the White Sox in which he pitched a pair of innings. “I couldn’t be more appreciative.”