photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State shortstop Charlie Peters tosses over to second after fielding a Shawnee Mission West ground ball on Friday, May 30, 2025, during the Firebirds' state championship game at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.

Charlie Peters grew up around baseball. As a young kid in Reno, Nevada, Peters spent a lot of time around the sport with his family, going to Reno Aces games and playing with his friends.

Baseball has always been a part of his life. The Peters family moved to Lawrence for more opportunities with colleges and baseball. Peters took advantage of that and focused on his baseball career until he earned an offer from junior college Arkansas State-Mountain Home. On Tuesday, Peters announced his commitment to ASUMH, setting up the next chapter in his baseball career.

“Obviously, when you’re a little kid, you want to make it to the MLB and all that,” Peters said. “But once you kind of get into high school, you start taking it step by step. I realized going into high school (playing in college) was definitely a possibility, and it became more of my short-term goal, and so it’s just, it’s good to accomplish.

Peters finished his Free State career with a lot of wins. The Firebirds lost two games — only one 6A game — while winning the Sunflower League, a regional title and the state title. The team was focused on winning every game and not letting anyone slip up on the road to the state championship.

“We all started to realize that there’s one thing we had to do, and even when we ended the regular season 24-2, if we lost after that, it would have just felt like a failure,” Peters said.

Free State had the talent, but the Firebirds reached another level in their preparation for each game. Peters can take that experience with him to Arkansas State-Mountain Home.

“(ASUMH coach Landon Hay) has talked to me a lot about bringing a winning spirit to the school, and I think just having that with you and knowing what it feels like to win is good, but I think those feelings of a loss is what sticks with you,” Peters said. “And so, going to Arkansas, obviously the goal is to get better and grow, but I’m not going there to lose games.”

Peters first got in contact with Hay when he was the coach at Highland Community College in Kansas. On May 20, Hay was announced as the head coach at ASUMH, and Peters committed to the new junior college a month later.

“It was nothing where I felt (other junior colleges) were super invested, like they liked me as a player, but it just didn’t seem like anybody was completely sold on me,” Peters said. “I can tell (Hay) has a lot of faith in me, and I think he’s very invested in me. That’s why I wanted to follow him out there.”

As a junior college, ASUMH allows Peters to develop his skills and still get recruited by NCAA schools in the future.

“I think it’s two years where you can focus on school but take advantage of the time you have to focus on baseball,” Peters said. “Especially in a smaller town where there’s not much else to do besides get better and grow as a player.”

Arkansas State-Mountain Home is a small athletic department, with only baseball, bass fishing and e-sports in the department. Peters looks forward to attending a school where the baseball team will be a top priority.

Peters has a place set up for himself in Arkansas, and in a few months, Peters will officially begin his college baseball career.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State shortstop Charlie Peters attempts to make a sliding stop during the Firebirds’ state tournament game against Washburn Rural on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.