AVON — This weekend is the 4th annual Zander's Memorial Softball Tournament.
It's hosted in honor of Matthew Alexander, one of the victims of the Fed Ex mass shooting in Indianapolis in 2021.
"It means a lot to us. It's so exciting to see the community come together and support us, especially the FedEx family. This will be one of the biggest tournaments that we've had. We went the first year from four teams to 20 teams last year, and we have 23 this year so far, and of those 23 teams, 13 are from FedEx," Debbie Alexander, Matt's mom said.
The tournament raises money for a scholarship awarded to a baseball player at Avon high school, where Matt played.
The theme of the tournament and scholarship fund is "live a good story" - because the Alexanders say that's what Matt did.
The player chosen is someone who possess qualities Matt had like good leadership and sportsmanship.
"It's just super encouraging. For our first year, we weren't really expecting anything to be huge and so then just to see it grow every year has just been really heartwarming," Michelle Alexander, Matt's sister said.
This year marks a record year for donations to the silent auction as well, including a special piece of memorabilia featuring Caitlin Clark.
"Stewart-Haas racing, who own the number four NASCAR of Josh Berry, who ran in the Brickyard this year, donated the hood off of the car to our silent auction with Caitlin Clark's picture on the hood of the car. It's one of one. It's a piece of history. We're just really excited that Tony Stewart and Gene Haas would think enough about Matt's scholarship and the purpose behind it to donate it to us" Brad Alexander, Matt's dad said.
The tournament is at RBI Fields August 16th and 17th.
The Alexanders encourage everyone to come out, even if you aren't playing in the tournament, to take part in the silent auction. That is where the majority of funds come from for the scholarship.
The Live A Good Story silent auction opens Wednesday at 8 a.m.
