ADA, Okla. — Chris Lane loved baseball, but knew it wouldn’t make him a star. Instead, the Australian youth with a quirky passion for America’s pastime came to the U.S. for a college education, found a girlfriend and died while training for what was likely his final year on the diamond.
“He achieved at lot for a 22-year-old,” his father, Peter Lane, told reporters in Melbourne. “He gave up a lot to follow his dream.”
Lane hoped to work in real estate after graduating from East Central University next May but was shot in the back while jogging along a tree-lined street near his girlfriend’s home in Duncan last week. Three boys ages 15, 16 and 17 have been charged in what prosecutors called a thrill killing.
The Redlands Community College coach who brought Lane to America remembered him Wednesday as a player with heart and passion. Matt Newgent said this wasn’t necessarily enough to translate to a professional baseball career, but that Lane’s talent secured him a college education.
“Chris was such a level-headed guy. He knew his limitations,” said Newgent. “He knew in his heart of hearts he wouldn’t make the majors.”
Lane, who was about to become a senior, started 14 games at catcher last season and he hit .250.
Lane had been playing baseball for the Essendon Baseball Club in Australia when Newgent recruited him. A former principal at Lane’s prep school in Melbourne said Thursday that Lane could have played Australian Rules football, but that he gave that up to pursue baseball a minor sport in Australia.
