Matthew Cornelius is pitching in his final collegiate season in his home state at the University of New Mexico, however it wasn’t a simple journey for him to finish his career where it all started.
Cornelius was born and raised in Zuni, New Mexico, a pueblo of about 6,000 people in the western part of the state just outside the Arizona state line. It wasn’t until middle school when Cornelius moved 150 miles east to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his baseball career really took off.
Cornelius attended St. Pius X high school joining his older sister Ryann and their father who was a school counselor. During his time playing prep baseball Cornelius enjoyed individual and team success. He walked away from his four years playing varsity at St. Pius as a state champion, Gatorade Player of the Year, and finished his senior year with a 0.80 ERA.
His senior year numbers were straight out of a video game. He was the district player of the year and had 79 strikeouts in 44 innings,
Wow.
These are all amazing accomplishments, however the more rewarding moments that stand out to Cornelius happened off the field his senior year. In 2021 Cornelius won the Native American Leadership Award at St. Pius for his service in the Zuni Pueblo community. He also donated the $1,000 grant he received from winning Gatorade Player of the Year to a youth organization.
From a small pueblo community to a mid-sized private catholic school, one thing remained near to Cornelius,
Family.
Out of high school, Cornelius knew he wanted to continue to play baseball at the next level, the only question was where. He soon decided it was in his best interest to go the junior college route and head to Tucson, Arizona to attend Pima Community College.
After a quick two years there he got his opportunity to move up from the junior college ranks and compete at the division I level. For his junior year Cornelius opted to stay in Arizona and by committing to Arizona State University.
For his final season the lefty decided to come home to pitch closer to friends and family. It was full circle for Cornelius to return to Albuquerque and pitch on the same field he won a high school state championship on. Cornelius’s homecoming was already a sweet deal but the cherry on top had to have been coming back to his favorite home-cooked meal, green chile stew.
Home games for the Lobos baseball team mean just little bit more for Cornelius as he is New Mexico through and through.
Cornelius has excelled at all three of his college stops and is currently a major contributor to the Lobos bullpen, however his success is much deeper than victories, strikeouts or any other statistical category.
As cliché as it is, a compliment that is given to Cornelius by those that know him is,
He’s an even better person than he is a baseball player.
