Home Our Partners Professional Players

Giving back to the their communities and expanding access to the game.

Pitch In For Baseball & Softball is proud to team up with professional baseball and softball players who want to give back to their communities and help expand access to the game.

Professional Players

Aleshia Ocasio

Professional softball player Aleshia Ocasio visited the PIFBS warehouse in December of 2020, and helped generate softball donations for PIFBS in January 2021 with a social media campaign. Aleshia’s outreach helped generate donations of hundreds of dollars worth of softball gear plus monetary contributions that will go to help under-resourced communities develop their softball programs.

Ocasio is an advocate for voting rights and social justice, and works to raise awareness of inequality on and off the field. A former standout at the University of Florida, Ocasio has pitched professionally for the USSSA Pride, Chicago Bandits, and Athletes Unlimited.


Alex Cobb

In 2016, then-Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb wanted to send baseball equipment to troops overseas in honor of his brother, who serves in the Army. Cobb reached out to PIFBS, and together with Wilson Sporting Goods we were able to send 20 team kits of gear to soldiers at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

Cobb has played 10 seasons of Major League Baseball for the Rays, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Angels.


Anfernee Seymour

A former 7th round draft pick of the Miami Marlins, Anfernee Seymour played six seasons of professional baseball between the Marlins and Atlanta Braves organizations, including 103 games for the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2019.

In 2018, Seymour worked with two-time softball Olympian Natasha Watley to deliver baseball and softball equipment and hold instructional clinics for kids in the Bahamas. The first annual Anfernee Seymour Charity Baseball Clinic was held on December 1st and 2nd, with 80 youth players age 9-17. The clinics featured sections for beginners, intermediate, and seasoned players, with drills on everything from catching the ball to situational plays.

A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Seymour continued the project along with Watley in January 2020, helping Freedom Farm Little League to expand. The equipment distributed from PIFBS to the Bahamas that year was valued at nearly $6,000, including gloves, baseball and softball bats, and batting tees.


Crystl Bustos

Three-time Olympic medalist Crystl Bustos was a Pitch In For Softball Advisory Board Member, helping key the creation of PIFBS’ original softball arm. In 2018, Bustos generously connected PIFS to Triple Crown Sports, which hosts the largest softball tournament in the world each year in Denver, Colorado.

Thanks to Bustos, PIFS and Triple Crown teamed up to host one of our first ever softball-centered collection drives at the 2018 Sparkler Tournament, with more than 90- teams in attendance. Bustos assisted with this event, and has helped spread awareness of PIFBS through giveaways on her social media platforms.

In December of 2020, Bustos sent us a donation of cleats, pants, gloves, and a catcher’s helmet. The world record holder for home runs during an Olympic series now owns and operates Ruthless Sports Training.

Crystl Bustos

Dee Strange-Gordon

The former National League batting champion, Gold Glove winner, and two-time All-Star teamed up with PIFBS, Wilson Sporting Goods, SafeSpace, and the Jackie Robinson Training Complex to hold a drive-through equipment event and clinic on January 30, 2021 in Vero Beach, Florida.

The drive-through portion helped provide baseball gear to 115 children, followed by a socially distanced clinic for 20 kids from Vero Beach RBI and the domestic violence shelter SafeSpace.

Strange-Gordon handed out packs of gear provided by PIFBS and Wilson, and interacted with the children as their cars passed through. The drive-through was followed by an hour-long clinic, where Strange-Gordon taught basic baseball skills through soft toss and various stations, and spent one-on-one time working with the participants.

With masks and social distancing, Strange-Gordon was able to safely create positivity and hope for local children through the game of baseball during challenging times.

“I just want to inspire them to do whatever it is that they want to do great. It doesn’t have to be baseball, they can take my story and go be the best doctor ever if they want to be,” Strange-Gordon says. “I just want to let them know to be inspired to do something.”


Dellin Betances

In 2017, the big league right-hander worked with PIFBS to support Chiqui Mejias Academy in Bonao, Dominican Republic.

Betances grew up in Manhattan, but up until his early teens he would spend his summers in Santiago, Dominican Republic, where his parents are from. Betances collaborated with PIFBS, Wilson Sporting Goods, Nike, and Papa John’s to help nearly 100 children in the small town of Bonao to receive the equipment needed to play ball.

Betances and partners equipped kids with brand-new Wilson A500 gloves, Nike baseball cleats, New Era Yankees caps, and T-shirts with Betances’ silhouette on the front and his No. 68 on the back.

Between PIFBS, Wilson, Nike, and New Era, more than $30,000 worth of equipment was donated to the cause.

Dellin Betances

Don Mattingly

In 2015 when Don Mattingly was the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pitch In For Baseball Baseball & Softball launched its partnership with the Dodgers organization. Mattingly at the time had a baseball bat company, which he was looking to liquidate. As a result, Mattingly donated equipment to PIFBS, and PIFBS supported the launch of Mattingly RBI (now called Evansville RBI) along with Mattingly Charities. Mattingly Charities provides support to organizations that administer educational advancement, social development, and athletic programs for underserved youth in the Evansville, IN community.

Mattingly played 14 seasons of Major League Baseball – all with the New York Yankees – from 1982-1995. He was a six-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner, and 1985 American League MVP. Mattingly is currently the manager of the Miami Marlins.


Hunter Pence

Former MLB All-Star Hunter Pence and wife Alexis chose Pitch In For Baseball & Softball as the beneficiary of a collaboration between their company, Pineapple Labs, and off-field baseball apparel brand Baseballism in May 2021.

Pineapple Labs is a coffee, mugs, and stationary company inspired and designed by Alexis and Hunter Pence. The special bundle featured “Rise + Grind” coffee and mug set and an exclusive Baseballism snapback, with 100% of the proceeds donated to Pitch In For Baseball & Softball.