March 28, 2024
Sports

'He would love this' Friends, former teammates celebrate Evan Melau's life at baseball tournament

WESTMONT – Evan Melau was on the mind of Michael Fandre as he stood on the mound Thursday.

He was in everyone's hearts.

The life of Melau, the 15-year-old Downers Grove boy struck and killed by a car in June, is being celebrated this weekend in Westmont in a way he'd surely love – with the sights and sounds of baseball.

Moms and dads sat in bleachers behind home plate, and in lawn chairs down the lines. Encouraging words frequently came out of dugouts. Teams wore shirts with Melau's number 5, the words "Fly High Evan" inscribed in the numeral and wings flanking the number at the EM5 Fly High tournament.

It was a perfect day for baseball, and to remember Evan.

"I was thinking about him when I was on the mound, wishing that he was here with me," said Fandre, a teammate of Melau's on the Rake City travel team. "It sucks that he's gone, but this is great for the team, cheering everybody up, making people happy. All the parents here, cheering us on, I think it's great what they're doing."

Melau played football, basketball and baseball at Downers Grove South High School as a freshman. But baseball was his first love.

He played travel ball with Rake City. The organization has set up a GoFundMe fund in his memory.

Max Waszkiewicz, a teammate of Melau's with Rake City, had "EM5" scribbled in white on the side of his black hat, to honor his friend.

"To always have him with us," Waszkiewicz said. "I played with him for three years. He's one of the best teammates I've ever had. He was always fun to be around, loved to play baseball, loved the game."

Cole Kardatzke, another teammate of Melau's on Rake City, smiled when recalling a "funny guy, a short kid that thought he could beat me up every day."

"He was just a great kid, one of my best friends," Kardatzke said. "It's really great that this tournament is available and something that we could do for Evan. I know that he would really appreciate this. It's good to show our support."

A large crowd flocked to the Westmont field close to where Melau grew up playing baseball on a picture-perfect summer evening.

Rake City and the Lisle Wolves, many with boys who grew up playing with Melau, started things off.

Melissa Dawson, whose youngest son Ryan played travel basketball with Melau going back to the fourth or fifth grade, worked a table where concessions were sold and donations received.

Dawson noted the amount of outreach of support, even from people who didn't know Melau, people that wanted to help and be a part of the event.

"This is amazing. We did this in five weeks and look at the concessions, all the donations, the kids out there, parents," Dawson said. "They're just a loved family and Evan was a loved kid. He would love this. That's why we did it."

Mary Spear, mom of one of Melau's closest friends Luke, said it's been hard for the kids not being in school, to not have the opportunity to celebrate Evan Melau's life at school.

"So this is nice," Mary Spear said. "They can't come together so we made this happen."

Six teams, a lot of the guys Melau knew growing up, are participating in the four-day round-robin tournament. Melau's parents, Jamie and Chuck, specifically wanted to make sure it was a tournament Evan's buddies could play in when they organized the event.

Daniel Depke and Tommy Coyne are two Lisle Wolves players who were teammates of Melau's in travel basketball.

"I think it's a great opportunity to come out and support Evan, and live on his legacy," Depke said.

"It's fun getting family and friends together, playing baseball, what he loved," Coyne added.

Ryan Dawson, a football teammate of Melau's at Downers Grove South, was excited to participate in the event.

"To play with your friends, playing for Evan," Dawson said. "He was a great guy. Every time I talked to him he would make me smile. Love talking to him, loved hanging out with him."

The Melau family hopes to make this an annual event, with thoughts of proceeds going toward a scholarship fund for kids who can't afford travel baseball. Jamie Melau has also mentioned building a baseball field in Evan's name.

Celebrating his life with friends playing baseball this weekend is a start.

"He might have been the smallest guy on the team, but he had the biggest heart," Fandre said. "He would make fun of people, he would just cheer up the team. He was a great guy."