Kentucky men's softball team was mourning Monday after one of their teammates - a multi-sport athlete from Scott High School - was beaten to death in a fight following a softball tournament in Louisville.

Bryan Stevenson, 26, who now lives in Maumee, Ohio, but grew up in Independence, died at University Hospital in Louisville about 10 hours after police said he was assaulted by four men outside Barbara Lee's Kitchen on Brownsboro Road.

Stevenson, named Northern Kentucky Player of the Year last year in the USSA "C" State championship, played left field for the Northern Kentucky team Good Guys and was in Louisville over the weekend for the Lou Turner Tournament.

A second Good Guys player, Ryan Hayes, also was injured in the fight and taken to University Hospital in Louisville, where he was treated and released Monday.

Four Louisville men - Donald W. Hays, 30; David A. Pryor, 28; Justin M. Werner, 21; and William L. Schindler, 23 - were charged with murder in Stevenson's death and with assault for injuries to the second player.

Stevenson's older brother, Michael Stevenson, said, "they went to get something to eat at the restaurant and a couple of his friends were in trouble outside and he went out to help and four guys pounced on him."

"Bryan was a natural leader and he had so many friends. The team was planning on playing in the World Series of Softball later this summer in Florida. He loved baseball and softball," said his brother.

Scott Goetz, a Good Guys player from Latonia, said Monday that Stevenson went after the group of men after hearing that they had assaulted two other players outside the restaurant.

"He lived life fast, but everything he did was for a good purpose," Goetz said.

At Scott High School, Stevenson played basketball and baseball, and eventually landed at Eastern Kentucky University after transferring from Bluefield State College in West Virginia. Stevenson was named first team all-Ohio Valley Conference in 2005.

Goetz and Stevenson were friends since about age 14. They played summer baseball on the same team, but competed against each other as shortstops during the regular high school season.

Goetz, who played for Holy Cross, said the Good Guys team has been together for about 10 years and Stevenson would come home from the Toledo area each weekend to play in tournaments. Stevenson worked selling machinery to printing companies.

"He had so much energy. He'd have a bad day and it didn't matter. It was all about having fun and being with his friends. Everybody on our team was a brother," Goetz said.

Stevenson was "a hell of an athlete," he added.

Goetz was pitching for Eastern Kentucky University when he got a call from Stevenson asking if there were any openings on the team. He was looking to leave the small college in West Virginia.

"It was more of an opportunity to try to play minor league ball or go to the majors," Goetz said of his friend's dream.

Stevenson graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2005.

The dream didn't happen and Stevenson went on to a job and his weekend softball.

On Wednesday, the team is supposed to gather for a regular league night. But the Good Guys won't be on the field.

Instead, Goetz said, they will be gathering at the home of one of their players, sharing memories about Stevenson and remembering the one-liners that seemed to flow easily.

"He was a wonderful, wonderful person," Goetz said.

Stevenson's former baseball coach at Scott High School said the young man was the type of player and person that coaches remember forever.

"He was so much more than a ball player. He was a great person and great leader and he was always upbeat," said Troy Roberts, who was manager of the Scott High School Eagles during Stevenson's senior year in 2001.

"I spoke to him every few months. He was somebody special," said Roberts.

Stevenson's former basketball coach at Scott High School echoed that description.

"I've been coaching for 28 years," said Jeff Trame, teacher at the Kenton County school, "and he was one of the greatest kids I ever coached."

"He had no enemies. Bryan always had a smile for everyone and went out of his way to treat everyone well. He was the sort of young man you would want your son to be just like him," said Trame.

Funeral arrangements are pending.