Wearing a jersey that says THE LONGEST FASTPITCH SOFTBALL GAME, Gergana Handjiyska bats during the marathon event that her team won. (Photo by Franco Bagattini)

FAST PITCH SOFTBALL GAME LASTED FIVE DAYS
2010-06-08

The organizer of a fast pitch softball game completed two nights ago has put applications in with the World Records Academy and Guinness World Record for recognition of the marathon event being the longest ever played.

From June 1st to 6th in Caronno Pertusella, a small town near Milan, Italy, two coed teams played for 120 hours (the equivalent of five days). The participants were men and women ranging from ages starting at 20 to over 60 years old. In total there were 54 players from nine countries: Bulgaria, Cuba, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and Venezuela.

Gergana Handjiyska of Bulgaria, who was an Athlete Ambassador during the BackSoftball campaign, played in the days-long game and said, “It was just great, people from different countries… playing on shifts for six days, united by the love of softball. This is exactly what we were lobbying (around) for the past few years and to be part of (the long game) was just amazing.”

The shifts she refers to are four-hour shifts that were played, with each team divided into three parts. Sleeping was done in tents at the field, as the participants were not allowed to leave the playing facility. In the end the teams played together for the final five hours, however.

The game started at 20:00 on June 1st and ended at 20:00 on June 6th with the team that Handjiyska was on winning by a final score of 761-749.

The Italian Softball Federation helped with umpires and scorekeepers. The event was organized by the local club, Caronno Rheavendors, and mainly their president, Giorgio Turconi, who is helping with development in the European Softball Federation commissions and is also an active contributor to the work of the Italian Federation.

The previous record was set last year in Alberta (Canada) at 115 hours, three minutes long.