Seattle Mariners: 100 Baseballs. 9,000 Miles. One Shared Love of the Game.

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How the Seattle Mariners helped us share the game we love, one baseball at a time.

Sometimes the most meaningful moments in baseball happen far beyond the field. They happen when someone takes the time to listen, believes in what you're trying to accomplish, and reminds you just how powerful a little kindness can be.

This summer, the Seattle Mariners gave our Field to Field team one of those moments.

Before our journey to Kenya, we had the incredible opportunity to spend time at T-Mobile Park with Trevor Gooby, Chief Operating Officer of the Seattle Mariners. What could have been a simple visit turned into an experience our family will never forget.

Trevor welcomed the Sobchuk boys into the ballpark, taking them behind the scenes and showing them the places most baseball fans only dream of seeing. But what meant the most wasn't the tour itself. It was the genuine interest he showed in what two boys from Snohomish County were trying to accomplish thousands of miles away.

He listened as we shared stories about the Kongoni Baseball Network, Coach Nelson Kassim, and the incredible young athletes in Kenya who love baseball just as much as kids growing up in Seattle. He wanted to hear about their challenges, their determination, and their dreams.

And then the Mariners did something extraordinary.

They donated 100 official Major League Baseballs for us to take to Kenya.

To many American baseball players, a baseball is something easily replaced. There are buckets of them at practices, dozens scattered across fields, and new ones ready whenever they're needed.

But in Kenya, it's a different story.

Baseballs are precious. Equipment is often shared between teams, and players make the most of whatever they have. A single ball might be used long after most American teams would have retired it.

So imagine what it meant for these young athletes to hold an actual Major League Baseball. The same kind of ball used by the players they admire. A ball that traveled all the way from the home of the Seattle Mariners to the baseball fields of Kenya.

For some, it was their first time holding an official MLB baseball.

Those 100 baseballs represented so much more than equipment. They represented possibility, encouragement, and the knowledge that someone on the other side of the world believed their love of the game mattered.

That is what Field to Field is all about.

We also want to share our heartfelt gratitude with Rick Rizzs, the beloved voice of the Seattle Mariners.

Rick has an extraordinary way of making people feel like they belong to the Mariners family. His enthusiasm, generosity, and genuine love for the game have touched generations of fans.

When Rick shared the story of our Great Big Glove Drive during a Mariners broadcast, he helped carry the voices and dreams of young Kenyan baseball players into homes across the Pacific Northwest.

For a small, youth-led nonprofit, that kind of support means everything.

Rick didn't just share a story about collecting gloves. He helped remind our community that baseball has the power to connect people who may live thousands of miles apart but share the same passion.

And that connection is exactly what we're trying to build.

We see so much potential in these young people. What they need isn't someone to teach them to love baseball. They already do.

They need access, opportunity, and people willing to believe in them.

Trevor and Rick, thank you for being two of those people.

Thank you, Trevor, for welcoming our boys, listening to their dreams, and treating their little glove drive like something that truly mattered. Thank you for the kindness, the unforgettable memories, and for helping send 100 pieces of Major League Baseball across the world.

Thank you, Rick, for using your voice to lift up others, for sharing our story, and for the countless ways you show up for the community.

And thank you to the entire Seattle Mariners organization for reminding us that the spirit of baseball extends far beyond wins, losses, and the walls of a stadium.

Somewhere in Kenya, a young player is throwing a baseball that began its journey at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Two completely different worlds, connected by one game.

From one field to another. From Seattle to Kenya. Truly, Field to Field.

Play the game. Share the game. Grow the game.

— The Ujenzi Foundation Field to Field Team