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The money raised from playing the world's longest softball game will stay on Prince Edward Island to benefit local families hit by cancer, one of the ballplayers said Tuesday.Mark Johnston told that the four-day game between two Charlottetown teams raised about $10,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society's P.E.I. chapter.
"It's nice that the money stays on the Island for all the families that are going through cancer. To be honest, it's probably our friends and relatives [who benefit]," Johnston said.
The first pitch was thrown at 7 p.m. AT on Thursday, and the game continued until 7 p.m. Monday for a total of 96 hours of softball. According to Guinness World Records, the previous longest game ever played was in Quebec — 95 hours, 23 minutes in July 2005.
Johnston said the idea to raise money through a softball marathon had a humble beginning.
"It started as a joke. We've done a lot of crazy things over the years. I just sent an e-mail where I said let's break a world record for the longest softball game," he said, "and the next thing I know, Scott is sending away for the [Guinesss World Record ] application forms."
Johnston's teammate, Scott Chandler, said the worst thing about the game was the weather. It rained right from the beginning through to the final out, or seemed to, Chandler said.
"When that cold rain comes down, and you're up at home plate, I almost floated out to sea," he said, "It made it very difficult."
There were 40 players in the event, and 20 were involved in play at all times. No one was allowed to leave the field except in the event of injury. Lineups of 10 players per team played three shifts a day: one two hours, one four hours and one six hours.
All players got a break for 30 minutes every six hours. The final score was Mark's Work Wearhouse 1066, Hunter's Ale House 874.
Source : cbc.ca
