BUTLER TWP — The pain was fresh. The goal was immediate.

And the Kristopher “Kit” Barkus Memorial Softball Game was born.

Barkus was killed at age 25 on June 6 of last year. His older brother Bobby decided to begin a scholarship softball event to honor his brother.

“We were still grieving and hurting, but I didn’t want a year to go past without doing this,” Barkus said. “Kit had a passion for baseball, then music later in his life.

“Before he died, he was saddened that he couldn’t accomplish more on this planet. He wanted to give to music and now we can do it for him.”

Now a banker, Bobby Barkus attended Duquesne University as a business major and received the Jeffry T. Warnick Scholarship, given by a family in honor of their son who was killed.

“I remember what that meant to me and wanted to tie Kit’s name into doing that for others,” Barkus said.

Despite last year’s inaugural scholarship softball event being thrown together quickly, it netted $5,000 and provided scholarships to a pair of music majors — Tristan Blain of A-C Valley at Indiana (Pa.) University and Jacob Cypher of Butler at Duquesne.

Three softball teams will play each other Sept. 19 at Father Marinaro Park in the second annual event. The games begin at noon and a Chinese auction will be going on all day at the park.

Hamburgers and hot dogs will be grilled as part of an all-you-can-eat gathering. A donation of $15 will provide all the food and (non-alcoholic) beverages one can eat.

Among the prizes up for auction are Steelers, Penguins and Pirates tickets, a golf outing, gift cards and gift bags.

“The teams playing ball are friends of Kit and friends of the family,” said Bob Barkus, Kit’s father. “All of the prizes have been donated by family, friends or the community.

“We held last year’s tournament at Adelman Park in South Butler. Without knowing what we were doing, we still attracted 70 people or so. This year, we’re hoping for 100, maybe grow it a little bit each year.”

Mr. Barkus said his son’s love for baseball “is why we decided to use softball as a part of this.”

Eventually, music will take over.

“From now on, we will give one scholarship to a Butler kid who is going on to study music in college,” Bobby said. “At some point, the softball portion of this event will dissolve and we’re hoping to bring the scholarship winners back to perform their music for a day as part of a music-oriented event.

“It will give them another venue to showcase their talents and it will show everyone the impact Kit’s program is making. But that’s down the road.”

Bobby Barkus added that his goal is to get the scholarship program to the point where the scholarship money is drawn from interest accrued on its bank account.

“We want this scholarship to last forever,” he said, as CEO and president of a six-member board organizing the event.

Mr. Barkus said Kit was a registered organ donator, “but his organs couldn’t be donated because there was too much blood damage.

“With this scholarship program, Kit is giving to people in other ways.”