Donna Lane spent hours sitting in the stands of the Essendon Baseball Club watching her youngest son Chris Lane play the game he loved.
Key points:
- Australian baseballer Chris Lane was shot dead in 2013 while out running in the United States
- In 2014 his local club, Major League Baseball and the council set about building a field in his honour
- They hope to open the Chris Lane Field in October this year
But returning there, almost 10 years after his death, is difficult.
"Chris just loved baseball," she said.
"When I got here today, seeing the families coming out, bringing their boys and girls and making sure they had their outfits on, chatting – I thought community, that's what baseball does so well."
Ms Lane said there was a note in the school newsletter encouraging kids to play baseball when Chris was in prep.
She said coach Garry Bitmead was "so engaging" when she took Chris to training for the first time.
"From then on, there was no missing anything to do with baseball," she said.
Chris was 10 when he went on a baseball trip to Japan.
Then in his late teens he got an opportunity to move to the United States on a baseball scholarship.
But Chris was only a few years into his American adventure when he was killed in a drive-by shooting while out jogging in Oklahoma on an afternoon in August 2013.
He was 22.
There was a huge outpouring of grief in Australia and America.
Now, near his childhood home in Melbourne's north, construction has started on a little league field in Chris's honour.
The club says the Chris Lane Field will be the only fully-lit, purpose-built field for baseball players under the age of 14 in Australia.
"I always thought Chris would go into teaching," Ms Lane said.
"He was always interested in mentoring young kids – so this is perfect."
One of Chris's sisters, Andrea Kane, said seeing the ground under construction was "very touching".
"I love the idea," she said.
"To know that other kids are going to have a dream on a field like he did, Chris would think that's pretty cool."
A long time in the making
Getting to the point of construction hasn't been easy.
In 2014, after a game between the LA Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground, American Major League Baseball (MLB) promised to fund a field in Chris' honour.
The Essendon Baseball Club's committee then set about surmounting the planning and logistical hurdles to make the dream field a reality.
President Tony Cornish said it was one of the hardest things he had done.
"The problem was that in the end, we got $130,000 from MLB," he said.
"We needed $1.4 million to build the field — it's taken 10 years to raise the rest of the money."
The club began fundraising and lobbying.
Mr Cornish said he gave up "three quarters of his life" to make it happen.
"I was never going to stop — for the Lane family, for Chris," he said.
"I would have moved mountains to do it."
Work begins
Mr Cornish said they were able to get the project over the line last year with additional contributions from Moonee Valley City Council, the Victorian Government and Musco Lighting.
The council, which is overseeing the construction project, said works were progressing well.
"The Chris Lane Memorial Little League Field will be a lasting legacy for a greatly admired young man who is so dearly missed by his family, friends, teammates and the local community," Moonee Valley mayor Pierce Tyson said.
"We are sure [it] will inspire future generations of young baseball players in Moonee Valley and visiting teams from throughout Victoria for many years to come."
Mr Cornish said he was emotional when he saw the first posts erected late last year.
"I think this club is unbelievable," he said.
"I wanted to put it on the world map, and I want to Chris's name to be remembered forever."
Mr Cornish said he hoped the field would be opened by the end of the year.
"I plan on having dancing girls, marching bands, Chris' coach from America, Chris' girlfriend's parents, I want [Prime Minister Anthony] Albanese here," he said.
"I want it to be the biggest event baseball has ever seen in Australia."
Mrs Kane said would be wonderful to see her brother's love of baseball live on in other children.
"It is more than just the ground," she said.
"It's about opportunity.
"The opportunity for kids to travel overseas, it's the opportunities to do special training camps — all of those things are things Chris got to do."