Last season, Ian Ritchie purchased a suite at T-Mobile Park during the Mariners’ playoff run with the hope that they would make it to the World Series. When the Mariners came up short, the organization offered him a credit for any game in the 2026 season. “We chose May 4, just by chance,” he said. “May the fourth be with you. I thought, JR is a big Star Wars fan, they’re playing the Braves. I thought it would be fun.” The “JR” Ian Ritchie referenced is his 22-year-old son, who was a minor league pitcher last fall in the Braves organization. But on May 4, the Bainbridge-raised right-hander returned to the Pacific Northwest as a big-league player, taking the mound for his Monday night start against the team he grew up cheering for. A fortuitous force seemed to be at work on the night of Ritchie’s homecoming, where his parents and hundreds of fans from Kitsap County cheered for the opposing team at T-Mobile Park.…