Field restoration a fitting tribute to Forde

Jay Horwitz talks about the Play Ball auction and proceeds going toward "Shannon Forde Field" in Forde's hometown of Little Ferry, N.J.LITTLE FERRY, N.J. -- There is an unmarked softball diamond near the southeastern tip of this tiny New Jersey borough where, past the deepest edge of left-center field, the Empire State Building rises over a lake. Scan right and One World Trade Center becomes visible, peeking out from behind a tangle of fallen trees and tufted underbrush.

This time of year, the field is a bed of mud and ice, squishing and crunching beneath those who trudge across it. It's a neighborhood park; as children, Shannon Forde and Alicia Dalton Reilly would make the short trip here…