BLACKSBURG — Cori McMillan is once again shining for a college softball team in the New River Valley.

But this year she is starring at Virginia Tech, not at Radford.

After transferring last summer, McMillan has made a successful jump from Radford and the Big South to the 16th-ranked Hokies and the ACC. The junior right fielder has belted a school-record 20 homers this year. She also leads Tech in RBIs (60) and ranks third on the squad in batting average (.393).

McMillan, who is Tech's cleanup hitter, is surprised at how well she is doing this year.

"Once I did commit, I was like, 'Am I going to perform the way I want to? Is it all going to work out?’" she said. "It definitely has."

Has she exceeded her expectations?

"Absolutely," she said.

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She also has exceeded Tech coach Pete D'Amour's expectations.

"Absolutely," he said.

McMillan's sensational season has not gone unnoticed. Softball America named her the national player of the month for April.

McMillan's jaw dropped when D'Amour broke the news to her at a recent practice.

"I didn't expect that at all," she said.

Speedy slugger

McMillan's first name is actually Corinth; she was named after a city in the Bible.

"I've never really had anybody call me Corinth unless I'm in trouble," she said. "[But] the team does that now. … Normally I'm not listening when they say, 'Cori,’ so they know when they scream, 'Corinth!’ it'll catch me so off guard."

She grew up playing softball and basketball in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Her mother wanted her to play for the Northwest Guilford High School girls basketball team, but McMillan gave up basketball after middle school.

A desire to focus on softball was not the only reason McMillan did that. She was not a fan of running up and down the court.

"I don't think I wanted to run that much all the time," she said.

Fortunately for McMillan, her frequent home-run trots don't require any running.

"Hitting a home run's fun because then you don't have to sprint," she said.

Not that McMillan's bad at running. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound McMillan is one of the fastest players on the Hokies. She ranks second on the team with 20 stolen bases.

"It's nice keeping everyone on their toes when I actually do sprint," she said. "Not many cleanup batters steal, so I think it catches some people off guard."

"It's rare to have a kid that steals 20 bases and hits 20 homers," D'Amour said.

Off to Radford

McMillan's only scholarship offers in high school were from Big South members Radford and USC Upstate.

D'Amour never saw McMillan play when he was out on the recruiting trail.

"At the end of [Tech's fall practices last fall] he was like, 'People missed out on you, including me,’" McMillan said.

McMillan verbally committed to Radford in the fall of her junior year of high school, when Hope Creasy was Radford's coach. The Radford staff had been a frequent presence at the games of McMillan's North Carolina-based travel-ball team. McMillan's travel-ball teammates Lexie Roberts, Rachel Smith and Averee Atkins also committed to the Highlanders.

McMillan remained committed to Radford when Creasy resigned as Radford's coach in June 2021. Creasy was replaced by Alisa Tasler.

McMillan made a big impact on Radford as a freshman third baseman in 2022. She hit .365 with 14 homers and 36 RBIs, earning All-Big South first-team honors. She was one of 25 finalists for the national freshman of the year award.

She again made the All-Big South first team as a sophomore last year, although some of her statistics dropped (.324, three homers, 23 RBIs).

"I heard a lot about the term 'sophomore slump' and I think I got into my own head a lot," she said. "I tried too hard to reproduce what I did freshman year."

When Radford played the Hokies last season, McMillan caught D'Amour's eye with her athleticism at third base — and with her bat.

McMillan homered off Lyndsey Grein in that game. The two are now roommates. Earlier this school year, McMillan put a video of that homer on Instagram and jokingly thanked Grein in that post for enabling her to become a Hokie.

Big decision

McMillan entered the transfer portal after her sophomore season, hoping to finally fulfill her dream of playing for a team in a Power Five league.

"I didn't play throughout those two years [at Radford] thinking of transferring," she said. "But once I realized I was successful where I was and that I could be better and play at a higher level, I did start thinking about that.

"After we played here at Virginia Tech and I performed well, I was like, 'I can hit against better pitching. I am capable of being at a higher level.’

"But it wasn't until after the season ended that I was like, 'I only have two years left and I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to be in [the NCAAs], to play for a ranked team.’"

But she had some trepidation when she entered the portal last May.

"I was concerned I would go in and not come out," she said.

But 10 minutes after McMillan entered the portal, D'Amour emailed her.

She wound up being contacted by about 40 coaches. But she wanted to stay close to home, so she only visited Campbell, where ex-Radford assistant Megan Hill is on the staff, and Virginia Tech. She committed to Tech in June.

Record breaker

When she transferred, McMillan was simply hoping to crack the Tech lineup.

But she has become a standout for the Hokies (39-11-1, 18-6), who will be the No. 3 seed in next week's ACC tournament at Duke.

"She's a five-tool player," D'Amour said of her ability to run, throw, play defense, hit for average and hit for power. "It was pretty evident right away that she could play at a high level."

McMillan, who was moved to right field in fall ball, said she has become a "completely different person" at Tech.

"I've always been very outcome-based. I based my emotions off of the sport," she said. "Our seniors are huge advocates for, 'You're you. You're not your sport.’ … They've allowed me to think about it like that, which is why I also think I'm performing better because now I'm not as caught up in the numbers."

But her numbers are dazzling.

She is hitting .393, way up from her .324 average at Radford last year.

"We focus a lot on pitch selection, being ready for the right pitch and the right count," said McMillan, who is a left-handed hitter.

After hitting just three homers last year, she is tied for fourth nationally with her 20 home runs this year.

"Coach Pete, he loves the long ball," she said. "He teaches how to swing for the long ball. … I know if I get the ball in the air, I have the strength to hit it out."

D'Amour credits McMillan's homers to her elite bat speed.

"You really don't see kids that swing mid- to upper-70s a lot. And she does," he said.

McMillan broke the Tech single-season mark when she belted her 20th homer last weekend at Syracuse.

"It's very exciting," McMillan said.

The old mark of 19 was set by Caitlyn Nolan in 2019 and had been matched last week by McMillan and freshman Michelle Chatfield.

Home run No. 20 was not the only significant one McMillan hit last week. In a win over Virginia, McMillan belted Tech's 101st homer of the year to break the school record for the most homers by Tech in a season.

"It was really cool to be the one to do it," she said.

She likes being a part of a loaded lineup. The Hokies rank seventh nationally in batting average (.345).

"Having players both in front of me and behind me that will back me up regardless of the outcome makes me feel like I could play a lot more free," she said.

McMillan hit .432 with nine homers and 25 RBIs in 16 games last month.

"I don't honestly think I ever truly comprehended that I'm good at what I do until I got here, and I'm surrounded by a bunch of people that constantly … tell me that," she said.

CORI McMILLAN