Batting cages around the area are groaning as would-be softball players from the Goffstown area prepare for the upcoming Crispin’s House Annual Softball Tournament, an fundraising effort that pits Neighborhood News reporters against Goffstown’s finest.

The fun is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4, with all teams playing at 6 or 6:30 p.m. The final game of the night is scheduled for 9 p.m. under the lights at the Villa Augustina Fields in Goffstown.

“There are a lot of teams ready to fight this year,” said Crispin’s House Executive Director Laurie Hambleton, who doubles as the tournament’s commissioner. “The trash talk has been going on for a while, and a Goffstown paramedic was recently spotted practicing his form down by Catholic Medical Center. They’re working out everywhere!”

The showdown, which historically pits Goffstown Rotary Club members against the likes of Goffstown Main Street Program volunteers and police against firefighters, benefits Crispin’s House, a youth services organization in Goffstown.

Players, on the other hand, may not be so lucky.

“I couldn’t walk for a week last year,” said aging Neighborhood sports editor Jerry Liptak. “Man. I’m getting old.

“The only good thing was that other guys were hurting worse,” Liptak added sympathetically.

Did someone say “sympathetically?”

“It’s a lot of fun for everyone, but there’s no sympathy out there,” Hambleton said. “Once the teams are on the field, we have game faces all around. Everyone takes this pretty seriously. It’s all for fun and there’s a lot of good humor despite the competitive spirit.”

Games will be played for 25 to 30 minutes, with one pitch for each batter. There’s a five-run maximum per inning until the last frame, and the game is called when time’s up.

“We’re bringing back the infamous ‘blue ball’ again this year,” Hambleton said. “That’s when one batter per inning is allowed to predict that he or she will hit a home run. If they hit it out of the park without calling it first, it’s an out. That makes for a little bit more strategy.”

Winners advance to the championship bracket, while non-winners continue in their own bracket and have to work their way back to the trophy game!

“I’m not at liberty to say who’s playing yet,” Hambleton said. “Some teams are strategically letting their competition think they’re safe. Watch for more information to come out in the weeks ahead.”