"Things happen for a reason"

After his father died in July, Simon Corea had little interest in playing sports anymore.

But after talking it over with his family, Corea decided to return to basketball and baseball at Kofa during his junior season.

And after a solid season on the court, Corea had a huge season on the diamond, helping fuel a playoff run for the Kings.

"It's pretty crazy. I wasn't expecting to play that well," Corea said. "I was struggling at the beginning of the year. I went home, my uncles and my grandpa talked to me and I told them it was hard because dad's not here. He was a fixture at each and every game. They kept telling me 'He's here with you, he's in your heart at every game,' and 'You have to do what you know.' After they talked to me, I've been hitting better and concentrating more."

Corea said that with the help of family, he decided to keep playing to honor the memory of his father, Simon Corea Sr.

"It crossed my mind a lot (to not play). In the summer I was thinking about not playing, maybe getting a job to help my mom out." Corea said. "But I was talking with my uncles, my grandpa, my mom too, she told me 'If you don't play, it's like letting him down. It's what he wanted for you and it's what he liked seeing you do.' I thought about it, and now when I play I feel like he's here with me. There's a big part still with me. When I'm on the field, it's when I feel like he's here the most. He was my biggest fan."

Few people know what a teenage boy who lost his father goes through. Kofa coach Richy Leon is one of the those few.

When Leon was 16, his father, Santos Leon, died. Friends and family kept telling the 16-year-old things happen for a reason.

Nearly 15 years later, Leon found out what that reason was.

"Back then, people would tell me things happen for a reason and I think maybe this is one of those reasons," Leon said. "Ten, 15 years down the line a player of mine went through the same thing and hopefully just a word of encouragement to relate.

"I remember when it would happen to me, I would look around and say 'You don't know what I'm feeling,'" Leon said. "'It didn't happen to you. You didn't lose your father.' And his father was such a big part of his athletic and personal life, as was my dad. It's scary how our situations mirror each other."

Leon calls the similarities between his circumstance and Corea's ironic. Both were between their sophomore and junior years. Both were left as the man of the house, and each has one sibling, an older sister. Corea's dad died after a battle with an illness; Leon's died after a battle with heart problems.

"I just shared my experience of how I coped with it and hopefully some of the stuff I went through and who I coped with it helped him out," Leon said. "He had a great season with basketball and really got involved with that, and came out for baseball, and he's been doing what he's doing. I think him being a part of something takes your mind away, and I can relate to that being in that same exact position when I was his age."

Corea said the words and advice from Leon have been a comfort as well.

"Coach Leon has been a big inspiration on me," Corea said. "I went to his class, asked him for advice, he gave me advice. I've been trying to work with him. I still work with him now, I still ask for advice. I try to work with that advice, and it has worked really well."
Corea's .473 average leads the region-champion Kings (13-6 AIA), who open the playoffs at 11 a.m. Saturday - their opponent is still unknown. His three home runs and 26 RBI are second on the team. Used as a spot starter and reliever on the mound, he's 3-0 in 20 innings with a team-low 2.10 ERA, striking out 18 and walking 13 in four starts.

"Hopefully a thing here or there kept his mind straight and kept things in a positive light," Leon said. "I'm just so proud of not only the way he's doing on the baseball field and what he's doing on the basketball court, but also keeping socially active in school."

And speaking from personal experience, Leon said he knows that going through this now will make Corea stronger later in life.

"He's a resilient young man with a great head on his shoulders," Leon said. "The sky's the limit with him. Athletically and as a young man, in my experience it makes you mature in a hurry what you have to deal with losing a father. Same situation, too. ... You kind of become the man of the house so to speak, being the younger brother - same exact scenario. It kind of makes you mature. But I think it benefited me in my life in the choices I made, so hopefully it does the same thing for him ... that the choices he makes in his life are more mature ones because of this."