Article: Luis Cruz Jr., 14; Humboldt Park boy loved sports 'He never got in trouble. The kid is just awesome.'

Fourteen-year-old Luis Cruz Jr. was so busy with sports that his mother had to remember his jersey numbers based on the season.

The Humboldt Park boy died Tuesday of injuries after being struck by a car at Addison and Springfield as he rode his bicycle home from softball practice.

"I was a baby when I had Luis. We grew up together. He was my best friend," his mother, Patricia Neace, 31, said as she prepared to attend a game Thursday at Athletic Park, where Luis' teammates, coaches, other friends and fellow Reilly Elementary School students would pay tribute to her son by wearing his school softball team jersey number, 57.

Athletic Park is two blocks from the corner where he was struck.

Neace ...

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