Fort Worth family creates scholarship fund in son's memory

FORT WORTH, Texas - Back in August, a Paschal High School baseball star ready to play for TCU lost his life in a car crash.

Wanting to keep his memory alive, his family helped organize this tournament, which also provides scholarship cash to six deserving players.

Turning tragedy into something positive, his family organized the inaugural Drew Medford Baseball Tournament. It was named after the Paschal High School baseball standout who was killed last August in a car crash on Chisolm Trail Parkway.

READ MORE: Community mourns loss of high school star baseball player

"He impacted all of us on the team, especially last year,” said Brayden Conner, Drew’s former teammate.

High school coaches say the 18-year-old would have gone pro. He accepted a scholarship last summer at TCU to play ball and had already been working out with the team.

So his family wanted to keep his memory alive with $12,000 in combined scholarships to six senior baseball players.

Adrienne Grant, Drew's older sister, says the school, teammates and the community embraced the idea.

"We got private donations. We had companies who got behind it,” she said. “It's really turned something that was sad into something for us to look forward to that honors Drew, the game that he loved. And it honors Paschal High School and its coaching staff and everyone that's been so wonderful to us over the years."

"It brings back so many good memories about him,” said former teammate Matthew Urban. “And it's helped us become better as a team knowing that we have a motive to do good."

One player on each of the six teams in the tournament received a $2,000 scholarship. Next year, they hope to award even more.