CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Aidan Peters loved baseball.

He played in the Central Little League from the age of five until he aged out at 12, and then played for Charlottesville High School. He loved the sport so much that, as a senior, he played through cancer treatments.

He finished his baseball career and graduated high school just months before he passed away on Aug. 1, 2023.

That’s when his family decided to honor his memory by giving back to the baseball community, creating the Aidan’s Lights Fund to help raise money to add field lights to Pen Park, the same park Aidan grew up playing at.

“Having played at Central, we know the difference that lights will make,” Aidan’s father, Adam Peters, who coached in the Central Little League himself, told Cville Right Now. “It’s hard to get games in the spring before the daylight-saving time turns because there’s just not enough daylight after school hours. And even later on, when you have lights, you can just use the field a lot more.”

Three years later, the fund is gearing up to bring back one of its marquee events for the third straight year this Saturday — The Aidan Peters Memorial Classic.

The high school baseball showcase will once again return to Disharoon Park for the second year and will feature two games for the first time. The first game will be between Charlottesville, Aidan’s former team, and Monticello at 10 a.m. Afterward, St. Anne’s-Belfield and The Miller School of Albemarle, both of whom have participated in the classic every year, will face off at 1 p.m.

Peter said the inclusion of Charlottesville into the classic this year was a “very natural thing” given Aidan’s time with the Black Knights, and it was great to include them this year.

Both Peters and Central League President Alan Dalkin also praised Miller head coach Billy Wagner and STAB head coach Duke Fox for their continued efforts and support in helping make the classic a success.

“This is sort of the culmination of really trying to get the best possible high school game with the greatest amount of fans and the most excitement and community involvement that we could we could co-op,” Dalkin told Cville Right Now.

Following the game, the UVA baseball team will hold a public practice for all in attendance. Admission and parking is free but donations are heavily encouraged at the door. 100% of those donations will go directly to the fund.

Peters said the move from STAB’s home field to UVA’s last year was a great move, particularly for the players participating in the event.

“Last year, there was a player on Miller who had been on my little league team,” Peters recalled, “and he’s a catcher, and I was throwing out the first pitch, so I asked to walk out of the bullpen with me, so I could practice a little. 
And as we were walking along, he was just kind of looking around, and he was like, ‘This is so cool.'”

This year’s classic also comes at a crucial time for the fund. To date, the fund, which Dalkin said has been fundraising for about a year-and-a-half, has raised about $75,000 toward the estimated $170,000 it would take to put up the field lights.

But the longer they wait, the higher the price will go, and as such, Dalkin said they’ll likely be deciding this summer whether or not to do the installation.

“We really do want to try and get it done this year,” he said, “but we are definitely looking for donors.”

Peters and Dalkin said the best way to support the fund is to come to the classic this weekend, where all the money raised will go directly to the fund. There is also an active GoFundMe page for the fund, as well as a QR Code on the Central Little League’s scoreboard that attendees can scan at any league game. Dalkin said there will be more fundraising opportunities in the future as well.

Ultimately, Dalkin said the goal of events like this Saturday’s is to get people out to the baseball diamond to see how much good the sport can do.

“When you listen to Aidan’s story, how can you not be inspired?” Dalkin said. “How can you not be proud of what sports can do, and how impactful it is?  He’s such a wonderful guy, and this is just gonna make hundreds and hundreds or thousands, in the long run, of other kids, love baseball, hopefully, and enjoy baseball. It’ll be safer for them. It’ll be more cool. Hopefully we can broaden their horizons.”