Chris Lane first walked on to a Melbourne baseball field when he was six and never took a backwards step, sliding all the way into an American sports scholarship.
The 22-year-old was so passionate about baseball that he even made his mother drop him off at practice as she rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
"At a very early age, he just loved any game," his father Peter Lane says with a chuckle in recalling the family story.
But that future as a team catcher for the East Central University Tigers ended when he was killed in a random drive-by shooting near his girlfriend Sarah Harper's home in southern Oklahoma.
Three teenagers in the quiet, small city of Duncan have been arrested and charged over what police are calling a planned "killing spree".
Mr Lane was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
His parents and former teammates gathered on Monday where his sporting career began - at Essendon baseball field in Melbourne's north.
They placed flowers on home plate and began hugging and sobbing.
"He was just a kid on the cusp of making his life," his father said from the field.
"It was just so senseless."
Chris Lane was about to start his last season with the US school, had plans to go into real estate and had been dating Ms Harper for four years.
Mr Lane's mother, Donna, remembered her son's last visit, when he brought Ms Harper back to Melbourne and they were already acting like an old married couple.
"We were lucky that he was here," she said through tears.
The Essendon Baseball Club will remember Mr Lane with a tribute game this weekend.
Former teammate and shortstop Josh Davies said he'll play in the game to honour his lost friend.
"I'll just play hard like he would: don't be scared of anyone and don't take a backwards step," he said.
"But it's going to be really hard."
