Pine Creek graduate Riley Cornelio is bound for the major leagues.

The Washington Nationals called up the right-handed pitcher from Monument up from Triple-A Rochester, New York, as first reported by The Athletic.

Cornelio, 25, joined the Nationals in Chicago on Friday as the team took on the White Sox.

Billy Cook, who graduated from Lewis-Palmer, is an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That gives Monument two representatives in the big leagues.

Cornelio, who will become the first Pine Creek alum to reach the majors, did not follow a certain path to reach this point. A touted high school player who was selected for a national team that included the likes of Bobby Witt Jr., he went undrafted after making it clear he intended to pitch for TCU.

With the Horned Frogs a mix of COVID-19 and injuries limited Cornelio to 24 appearances (20 starts) over three seasons — most of that coming in his final season. The Nationals saw enough to draft him in the seventh round (201st overall) in 2022 following his junior year, with Cornelio signing a bonus announced at $241,600.

Cornelio’s first full season in the minor leagues saw him go 4-8 with a 4.68 ERA at Low-A Fredericksburg. The next year he went 9-11 with a 5.56 ERA at High-A Wilmington.

The breakthrough came last year, when Cornelio was named the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year as he climbed three levels and posted a 3.28 ERA over 134 1/3 innings.

He carried that success into this year as he was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in four starts, striking out 27 in 18 1/3 innings.