For area softball players, helping a local cause was a rewarding experience in itself. Winning along the way, of course, didn’t hurt.

Eleven teams took part in the annual Crispin’s House softball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 8, helping raise money for the nonprofit organization’s juvenile diversion program and Mountain View Middle School’s after-school activities.

During the double-elimination, one-pitch tournament, teams and donors helped raise roughly $3,000, said Al Baines, the event organizer and Crispin’s House president.

“It was very gratifying to see the response we got from the community,” said Baines. “It was a record-setting day in the amount of teams and the amount of fundraising.”

Though the eventual champion was a first-year team, the faces were familiar to locals as the New Boston Black Sox squad included many Goffstown youth baseball coaches.

The team’s tournament final came against Goffstown Junior Baseball, which worked its way through the losers’ bracket.

GJB won the first meeting in the final by a 6-0 margin, leaving a winner-take-all scenario that stretched into extra frames.

The teams played seven innings rather than the regulation five, with the Black Sox earning a 4-3 win for the title.

“It was fun to win,” said Black Sox organizer Don Chambers, who coached this year’s 11- and 12-year-old all-stars. “Really, though, we’re just playing to be there. Anything you can do for the kids at any level is great.”

Goffstown Junior Baseball played a big role off the field during the event, donating not only the food and beverages sold at the concessions stand, but also all of the money earned.

Baines said the day is critical to Crispin’s House, and not only for financial reasons.

“It’s a great event to bring people together, and for us to get the word out about Crispin’s House,” he said. “I got to tell a lot of people about what we do, which is something we really try to do in the community.”

Chambers said while his team didn’t take its time on the diamond too seriously, there was something on the line in the championship game.

“That’s one of the great things about the tournament … you can have some fun while you’re playing,” said Chambers of facing his fellow baseball coaches. “There wasn’t anything too serious that we were playing for, other than bragging rights and a little bit of rubbing it in.”