Matt Price of Perinton has loved baseball since he was a boy playing in the Fairport Little League. It wasn’t his love of the game, though, that took him to Honduras on a year-long church mission — but it did come into play.

It started with “an interesting conversation” the 1999 Fairport High School graduate had with a colleague during a 2006 trip to Spain while chaperoning a class from the Glen Cove, Long Island school district, where he taught physical education.

“Everybody says ‘why me?’ for the bad things, but this conversation was ‘why me?’ for the good things,” he said, noting he’s lived a privileged life and decided to give back to society.

Through Catholic Network of Volunteer Service of Maryland, he learned about the Passionists — a global order of Catholic priests — and applied for a volunteer program to Honduras. “The reason why I liked it is the idea to go down there and get to know the people, become acquainted with the culture and develop prospects of your own calling,” Price said. “The program allows an individual to bring their own talents and gifts from God to make a difference.”

He was accepted into the program and went with other outreach workers last summer to Talanga, returning last month. Besides helping the people build latrines, visiting the elderly and sick, and teaching children, he enjoyed the slower pace he feels allows people to appreciate things in life and realize the importance of people.

“I loved it,” Price said. “Talanga is a town of about 30,000 people. It has dirt roads with people working in the street daily. It’s very friendly, very open and very simple. It was just what I was looking for. The people of Honduras were completely open and that was a beautiful way to live for a year.”

Price also started men’s and youth groups, and through another volunteer got involved in coaching a regional children’s baseball league in his free time. One of the teams took third place in a national tournament in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, more than an hour away from Talanga.

“It was actually a pretty cool experience,” Price said, noting the kids appeared on television. “From all of that, I had the idea of starting a local team. I thought let’s use this publicity to start a baseball team in Talanga.”

He said 128 kids from the city’s four main public schools signed up. The volunteers conducted clinics and ended up with a core group of about 60 regulars. However, equipment was in short supply.

His father, Bob Price, suggested he contact Fairport Little League. Matt Price, who played in the league for a number of years, sent an e-mail to President Chuck DiPiazza, who was glad to help.

“I’ve known Matt since he was a little guy,” DiPiazza said. “He explained what he was trying to do and that kind of thing. I basically told him that we would look and see if we had some extra equipment lying around that could help him out.”

Four bags of used bats, mitts, balls, helmets, bases and other equipment were given to Price’s parents, including his mother Colleen, who took them in early July to Talanga. Children are still playing ball with them.

“We’re pleased that one of our alumni is actually using the skills that he learned through Little League to help others in an international country,” DiPiazza said.

“I’m a big proponent of smiles and laughter,” Price said. “For me, teaching sports and watching kids play sports is almost a guaranteed smile for that kind of stuff. I find if kids are doing things they enjoy, they’re more receptive to learning things. My thanks goes to the Fairport Little League.”

Bob and Colleen Price have three other children: Joe, Dawn and Tim, all graduates of Fairport High School who played Little League.

“A sincere thank you goes out to the Fairport Little League baseball community for their generosity,” Bob Price said. “Not only in our local community, but now also in the international community of Talanga, Honduras. As of today, you can here the shouts of ‘Vamos a jugar beisbol’ (let’s play baseball.)”