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WRENTHAM - For the first time in history, a Wrentham Youth Baseball game ended Sunday night on a fly cap.

A couple hundred fly caps, actually.

The Wrentham Youth Baseball/Softball Association this weekend set a world record for the longest baseball game by total time played: 36 hours, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday and ending at 8 p.m. Sunday.

At that moment, baseball and softball players ages 5-15 and representing 70 teams descended onto the McMorrow Field outfield - interrupting a Majors game between the Red Sox and the Athletics - and tossed their caps into the sky like mortarboards.

The previous world record was 32 hours and 29 minutes. "It's a great feeling to be part of this - especially since it's America's game," said Nick Lussier, 15, a Wrentham Babe Ruth player.

Players - and league President Terry McGovern - then formed two lines and exchanged "Good game" congratulations.

"This is fantastic," McGovern said as he started this journey. "Pure 100 percent energy. It's great!"

McGovern said organizers had hoped to raise $75,000 from the event. They entered the weekend having raised more than $40,000.

All money raised will go to seven charities: Curt's Pitch for ALS, the March of Dimes, the Taylor Meyer Scholarship Fund, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, the West Foundation, the Rice Complex and the Wrentham Food Pantry.

During the games, fans could buy concessions; Longest Game programs for $1, T-shirts for $10, highlight DVDs for $20 and two tattoos for $1; and other items.

A special banner was covered in players' signatures: "Cal Dreyer, #10"; "Maddie Purdue, Sundevils, #10."

"It's cool. We stayed up all night just to get in the Longest Game," said Will Purdue, 15, a Wrentham Babe Ruth player.

Teams changed about every hour at the event, with some exceptions: T-ball games were shorter and Babe Ruth and Major League games were longer. The older teams played the overnight games.

Tony Leonard said he and his son Nathan, 16, umpired the Majors game between the Brewers and Mariners at midnight together. Nathan worked behind the plate.

"For us, that was a thrill," said Leonard, who coaches a Senior Babe Ruth team.

Leonard said "I bet there was 200 to 300 people here," despite the hour.

"It was a lot of fun. (The players) were 12 years old, so they were pretty pumped up."

Parent Robbie Rankin has two boys in the program. Keith plays for the Phillies in the Minors, and Scott plays for the Bats in T-Ball.

"I think they're all excited they're going to be in the history books. A lot of them have been on TV," Rankin said.

Several TV, and newspaper, reporters descended onto the field complex Saturday to watch the first few innings.

As much as the players enjoyed this first attempt, Wrentham residents won't be saying "Wait until next year."

"I don't think we would do it, because you can't duplicate this kind of energy easily," McGovern said. "What I think it will do is inspire other towns near us to do the same thing. More power to them."

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.