Spring Valley mourns death of assistant football coach, MLB scout
The Spring Valley High School football program is mourning the loss of one of its own.
Volunteer assistant coach Charles Peterson died Sunday after a lengthy battle with COVID-19. He was 46.
Peterson had been hospitalized with COVID-19 since Aug. 17, according to a GoFundMe page organized by a family friend.
“There are good coaches and then there are good men! Coach Peterson was both. God put him on this earth to help young people and he did more in his life to help others and spread joy. He is the definition of servant leadership!” Spring Valley football coach Robin Bacon posted Sunday evening on Twitter.
Charles Peterson was in his fourth year on the Spring Valley staff.Peterson’s son, Trey, is a starting defensive lineman for the Vikings. Trey Peterson posted a tribute to his father on his Twitter page.
“I can’t put into words how much my father meant to me and every one he loved. To anyone who reads this. Please prayer for his safe passage into heaven and remember him as the man he was and always will be,” Trey Peterson wrote.
Tributes and messages flooded social media after Peterson’s death from friends and colleagues from around the state and baseball community.
“This breaks my heart. My thoughts & prayers go out to @Skiblue65 and the Peterson family. @SV_Vikings and our football team are hurting. CP was a great man, husband, father, and an incredible asset to our community,” Spring Valley offensive coordinator Dan Morgan posted on his Twitter page.
Charles Peterson has been an amateur scout for the St. Louis Cardinals organization since 2012. He was an area scout and a special assistant to Cardinals scouting director Randy Flores.
Peterson also trained baseball players in the Midlands and recently opened a facility called Playmakers in Northeast Columbia.
With St. Louis, Peterson was responsible for scouting South Carolina, Georgia and North Florida. He was the signing scout for the Cardinals’ top pick in this year’s draft, third baseman Jordan Walker out of Decatur, Georgia.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of amateur scout Charles Peterson,” the St. Louis Cardinals posted to social media Sunday night. “Our thoughts and condolences are with Charles’ family and friends.”
South Carolina baseball coach Mark Kingston and Clemson coach Monte Lee also posted their condolences for Peterson. Lee told The State on Sunday night got to know Peterson a lot during his scouting for the Cardinals.
Peterson was a diehard Gamecocks fan, so he, Lee and assistant Bradley Lecroy would go back-and-forth with Clemson-USC talk.
Lee said Peterson’s death really hit home for a variety of reasons and encouraged people to take COVID-19 seriously because “I don’t want to lose another friend.”
“He was incredibly funny, a gentle giant. A great, great dude. and a first round pick in baseball out of high school,” Lee said Sunday night. “One of the best pure athletes our state has ever seen.”
Peterson was a two-sport standout at Laurens High. He was a Shrine Bowl selection and Parade All-American in football.
Peterson was part of state championship winning baseball and football teams at Laurens. He was on the Raiders’ 1990 baseball championship team which defeated Lancaster.
In football, he caught the game-winning pass from Ronnie Cain with three seconds left to help Laurens win 1991 Class 4A Division II championship against Lower Richland, 28-27.
The Pittsburgh Pirates picked Peterson in the first round of the 1993 MLB Draft. He got as high as Triple-A and then played eight more seasons in independent baseball before joining the Cardinals.
Peterson also worked for USA Baseball before joining the Cardinals.
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 7:59 PM.
