Slain Vic baseball player honoured at game PETER Lane smiles knowing the laugh his son Chris would have gotten out of being called a "star." A week after the baseball player's shooting death in the US, hundreds gathered on Sunday at the Essendon Baseball Club, in Melbourne's north to watch a game being played in his honour. He didn't take himself seriously. He worked hard and that was it," Mr Lane said. The 22-year-old was in southern Oklahoma on a sports scholarship when he was shot dead in a random drive-by shooting last Friday. His father, Peter, said his son would have "taken the mickey" out of some of the headlines that followed his death, dubbing him a baseball star. "It's the last thing he would have seen himself as," Mr Lane said. The quality of the kid was that when it was time to go hard he would go hard, when it was time to relax and have fun, he could have fun. Tears ran down Mr Lane's face as he spoke, but he was also smiling. He laughs, saying his son would have told him to toughen up. Chris' girlfriend of four years, Sarah Harper, travelled to Melbourne with her family from the US to watch the tribute game and be with Chris' family at his old club. Chris' mother Donna said the community's love for her son has helped the family cope with their loss. All of this support and outpouring of love, it's helping. It's really helping," she said. The family joined the players and club president Tony Cornish on the field for a minute's silence before the first pitch. Forty balloons bearing Chris's number, 40, were also released into the sky. Tough gig. Tough. Standing on that field. Where he loved," Mrs Lane said. She knows this field in the city's north well. Chris, 22, started playing for club when he was just six. "I sat for hours in the carpark because we always had to be three hours early for every game," she says. Among the faces in the crowd are those who played with Chris when he was in the under-11s. "He was much loved, I never doubted that for a minute," Mr Lane said. But it's nice to have so many people attend. So many familiar faces. Mr Lane said he would like to see a memorial fund that would help other kids have the same opportunities his son did. He was on a good life path. I would like to see kids with the same opportunity that Chris had.