by Jeff Metcalfe - Mar. 3, 2012 03:38 PM The Arizona Republic

Even in a today's football-crazed culture, nothing is more quintessentially American than a father and son playing catch.

Who doesn't choke up with Ray Kinsella, Kevin Costner's character in "Field of Dreams, when he asks his long-dead father, "You wanna have a catch?" "I'd like that," says the mystically resurrected John Kinsella.

Playing catch in front of the house in Corona, Calif., is how it started for Dale Hahn and his oldest son, Cory. Buying a glove for the 4-year-old lefty in a family of right-handers. Starting out in T-ball and moving through Little League until by age 9 Cory showed enough talent to play on a club travel team.

"I had to invest in a screen to protect myself from him" while throwing batting practice said Dale, good enough to play college baseball at Chico State. His wife, Christine, played softball at Butte College (Calif.) and their younger son, Jason is a senior second baseman at Mater Dei High School.

But it was Cory for whom baseball was a higher calling.

He was first-team all-state by his junior season at Mater Dei. In fall 2009, he helped the U.S. win a gold medal at the Pan American Junior Championships. Then Hahn went to another level as a senior in 2010, tackling pitching as well as center field. He threw five innings in a combined perfect game in the California Southern Section Division I state final as well as homering in a 2-0 win.

His final senior statistics -- 14-1 record, 0.89 ERA, 92 strikeouts in 94.2 innings, .411 batting, 10 home runs -- brought multiple Player of the Year awards including Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Baseball, a prestigious list with eight winners now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

"Baseball is a big part of our family," Dale Hahn said. "The things Cory accomplished, as a father you're very proud. You feel like all the hard work we put in on the field or in the weight room and (batting) cages is paying off for him."

Then, in the seconds its takes to dash 90 feet, everything changed.

Read more:
In rehabilitation, Cory Hahn's attitude on life hasn't changed

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