A Plum mayoral candidate died while playing softball. Now his foundation is renovating the field.

PLUM, Pa. (KDKA) -- There's an angel in the outfield at the Living Word of Plum church. 

Plum Borough and sports were two of Shawn Marcellino's favorite things, second to his close connection with his family, including sister Vanessa McClean.

"In fact, the last night I spent with him, he was singing 'Baby Shark' on the karaoke machine with my daughter until 3 in the morning, and I'm like, 'OK, she has to go to bed,'" said McClean.

He was the life of the party, running for Plum mayor.

"Every memory I have of him is funny," said McClean.  

However, that life of laughter, love and hope came to an end too soon. At just 40 years old, he collapsed suddenly on the church baseball field from an aortic aneurysm in June 2021, and the loss still stings. 

"That period of time where you realize Shawn didn't move away this time -- it set in," McClean said.

Still, the memories for his family stay forever. 

"His smile, like if I had a bad day at work, come home -- he always called me Pops. He'd say, 'Hey pops, can't be that bad.' Then he'd give me that certain smack on the back," said Shawn's father Chuck Marcellino.

Shawn passed away playing softball on the field. Pastor Allan Drake was covering first base while Shawn played catcher. 

"All the sudden, out of nowhere, I just saw Shawn take himself out of the game and collapse on the sideline on the benches," Drake said.

Now the shock, sadness and loss transformed into positive power through the Shawn Marcellino Foundation his sister set up and it's rejuvenating the field first. 

"That's what Shawn would do. He wanted to bring this community together and make Plum a better place," said McClean.

"Out of the ashes of this situation, something really good for the church and for our community is happening," said Drake. 

The field has seen decades of wear and tear, but now it's moved, been leveled and has new red dirt and a backstop.

"It's just really been amazing," Drake said. "First of all, we didn't realize how expensive it was to do this. Just to put the backstop up, to redo the surface of the field, thousands of dollars to do that." 

The community donated all of the funds raised by Shawn's family through the nonprofit.

"People have been, in the Plum community, have been so great with this field. We just had a company, a fencing company, come forward and they're donating their labor," said McClean.

McClean said bigger plans are on the way, with a fence coming in June and scoreboard in the fall.

Since Shawn passed, the nonprofit has even donated equipment to Special Olympics, creating something good from a devastating loss.

"I think he would be super proud of where we're going with the foundation, where we're going with the church's field, and I think every night that they play on it, he's up there watching," said McClean. 

It's a new beginning for the field, the family and community, all in the name of Shawn with endless possibilities to make a positive difference in Plum.  

Once the field is done, the nonprofit wants to help kids get sports equipment who can't afford it. To continue its work, the Shawn Marcellino Foundation will hold its annual golf outing on Sept. 7 at Rolling Fields Golf Club. Right now, they're looking for volunteers, donations and sponsorships.