Yep, this is my understanding as well. I don't think it has to be an overwhelmingly hard hit. It has to be a sufficient amount of force, but nothing unimaginable.
When I was a kid, probably around age 10 (this would have been the 2004-2006 timeframe) I played club soccer. I was at a tournament and heard about a goalkeeper who suffered commotio cordis (he died, if I remember correclty). I believe it was due to a collision with another player where he took a head to the chest.
I didn't personally witness it, but this was a youth tournament, so it's not as if these were large, fully grown adults throwing their bodies around. I can't imagine it was a ton of force, but apparently enough to cause CC.
I was playing pickup football 5 or so years ago and my buddy lowered his shoulder, drilled me right over the heart. Took the wind out of me. I was aware of CC well before then (because of that soccer tournament) and felt pretty nervous for the next hour or two after that collision. I remember researching the timeframe for CC onset and when you're out of the woods. I think it's generally pretty quick, anywhere from seconds to several minutes. Maybe it can occur longer after the initial impact.
I still think it's a possibility this was related to an underlying health condition and not CC, but CC has to be atop the list of likely explanations at this point in time.