Dio Cornet is Pursuing his Dream at CoM
Dio Cornet took a risk. He left the life he knew to pursue his dream. “My dream is playing professional baseball,” he said.
But it wasn’t just about baseball. For Dio, coming to the US was the best way to improve life for himself and his family. “In Aruba we don’t have many opportunities,” he said. “And I wanted to create opportunity for my family back home. And here in the US, I could get that opportunity.”
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Cornet first came to Marin from his home of Aruba in 2017, for his senior year of high school. At Redwood High School, he played shortstop for the Varsity team.
In 2018, Cornet had an issue with his visa. Unable to get a student visa for the Fall, he had to start at College of Marin in January 2019, at the beginning of the Spring semester. This was a major issue because the baseball program starts in August.
According to baseball coach Steve Berringer, Cornet impressed despite his delayed arrival at CoM.
“I think he did an exceptional job,” Berringer said. “When Dio shows up in January, he’s missed an entire semester of work that all these other guys have put in.... In a short period of time, from January to May, he made tremendous strides.”
Cornet’s .443 slugging percentage for the season ranked second on the team. In April, he won Co-Mariner of the Month, after he hit three doubles, swatted three home runs, and got on base at a .367 clip in his 60 plate appearances that month.
Cornet had to change positions, from shortstop to outfield. He had never played outfield before, but his late start meant that the starting infield had been determined before he got there.
Randy Fernandez, a sophomore from the Dominican Republic, had shortstop locked down. Landen Moran, also a sophomore, had second base. Anthony Pomilia was the third baseman.
Cornet found the outfield challenging. “At first, it was hard,” he said. “It was tough, probably the first five games.” But as the season progressed, he became more comfortable in the outfield.
“Every aspect of his game, he improved,” said Berringer. “And that’s all I can ask as a coach.”
Cornet sees that experience as potentially valuable to his future in baseball, particularly in professional ball. “Especially now that they need players to play more than one position and the shift,” he said. “That’s a bonus.”
Still, Cornet said he expects to return to the infield next season.
According to Berringer, Cornet quickly earned the trust and respect of his teammates.“(Dio) is a really easy guy to get along with,” he said. “He’s a big guy, but he’s got a big smile. You could see his personality shine through on a day-to-day basis. The guys love being around him and love rooting for him and being a big fan of him. He is a good person. He works really hard.”
“Within a day or two, Cornet was fitting right into the team, building bonds and building a relationship with his teammates,” Berringer said.
Berringer credits Cornet’s friendship with Fernandez for aiding his integration into the team. “Everybody respected Randy on the team, so if Dio was good with Randy, Dio was good with everybody,” he said.
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It was hard for Cornet to be away from his family. He last saw them in December in Aruba. Often after games, he couldn’t talk to his family, because Aruba is three hours ahead of the Pacific time zone.
“When I was practicing, it was tough,” he said. Most of the week we had games, and I come home and it's probably, like, 7, and in Aruba it’s like 10. And they went to bed already. So, when I had games, I couldn’t talk to them that much.”
Cornet wanted to talk to his family about how he did in the game. “When you are finished with the game, and it was a good game, you want to talk to them and tell them you had a good game,” he said. “It was kinda tough.”
Now that the season is over, he can talk to his family more easily.
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When Cornet arrived in Marin this year, he found his dream in jeopardy. “When I came here, the people I lived with told me that I had, like, two weeks to get out ‘cause a person was coming, and the house was too small,” he said.
Cornet said he didn’t have the money to rent a place to stay. He couldn’t get a job because his student visa only allows him to study and play baseball. If he were caught working, he could be deported.
He had to find a place to live within two weeks, or he would have to go home and leave his dream behind in the U.S. Cornet went to his teammates for help.
From there, he found the Delgado family. “The Delgados never met me. They just offered to take me,” he said. “That’s a big help. I’m so lucky I found them.”
“They have been good to me.”
Berringer said as a coach, he was not allowed to get involved in Cornet’s housing situation. So he was glad Cornet’s teammates were able to step up. “That speaks volumes to the type of character of kids that we bring in to our program. They’re always looking to help,” he said. “That actually warms my heart to know that his teammates had his back and were helping him out.”
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Fernandez, along with Cornet, are the first two international students Berringer said he has coached. He said they are not only succeeding in baseball, but are committed to education. “I see them all the time, you know, going to tutors, meeting with instructors,” he said. “They are doing everything they need to do to be a successful student athlete. And so I’m real proud of them.”
“They come with more hurdles than the majority of the student athletes that I’ve had in our program, but they’ve embraced it. And they’ve taken control of their life and realize that this is an opportunity, and they’re just trying to make their lives a little bit better.”
Berringer recalls that Fernandez mentioned how his improved English fluency will help him in employment when he is back in the Dominican Republic.
“That’s what this college opportunity for these young men is about. Yes, they’re great players. They’ve done a phenomenal job for us, but I think the education piece that College of Marin has provided is gonna go a lot longer and further than the baseball that they play here,” Berringer said.
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When Fernandez arrived at College of Marin, he had to take English as a Second Language courses, Berringer said. He wasn’t able to take credit courses his first year in Marin, and also was not on the baseball team. Last season, Fernandez started to take credit courses, and was able to join the team.
Then, Fernandez started to receive interest from Division One and Division Two schools. But Berringer said that academics are somewhat of an issue. “He has the physical ability, the capability of playing baseball,” he said. “It’s just the academic piece that’s he’s gonna be a little bit behind.”
Berringer takes responsibility for not having a complete understanding of how to best prepare international players for Division One or Division Two.
“We gotta be a little better in planning out their academic plans moving forward,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing with Dio, unfortunately with Randy, we might have missed a class or two, but he’ll catch up. He’ll get there.”
Still, Berringer hopes that more international students will join the team. “I think, for international students, having the opportunity to come to Marin and study, and play a sport, and be close to San Francisco, and be close to the ocean, close to the mountains, I can’t think of a better place to be.”
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Scouts have clear interest in Cornet, according to Berringer. Early in the year, he remembers, scouts were taking video of Cornet hitting both in batting practice and in a game. “They know who he is,” he said.
As for the path to a Division One college baseball program, Berringer was not as confident. He said that admission into those programs is not based solely on baseball ability. Because Cornet is a semester behind, due to his visa issue in the fall, he will have work to catch up. Berringer said it is still possible for Cornet to go to a Division One program, but it will be difficult.
“Knowing Dio, though, he’ll step up to that challenge because that’s the type of person he is.”
