FREEPORT — With the innards of his washing machine strewn all over the utility room of his Freeport home, Jim McCurdy set out for some replacement parts.

As he was driving to the hardware store, he saw a sign for the Freeport International Baseball Invitational and was intrigued.

"International means you have teams from other countries," McCurdy said. "I thought I'd stop and check it out. I was here for four hours.

"When I got here, a Canadian team was playing Japan. I thought that was one of the greatest things in the world. Here you have two international teams playing in your own back yard."

That was 12 years ago, and McCurdy was immediately hooked.

"That's how I got started," McCurdy said. "I knew I had to get involved."

And there are many people involved behind the scenes at the Freeport Invitational.

Between 30 and 40 people volunteer their time — and often their vacation time — to help run the event, which is in its 12th year.

The invitational is like none other. There are no trophies. No winners or losers. No champions or brackets. Organizers frown on it even being called a tournament.

It's just baseball for the fun of it.

That's part of the draw to volunteer, said Buzz Hoover of Sarver, who has been a volunteer every year since the invitational began.

"The kids keep me coming back," Hoover said. "It's for the kids."

The days are long for the volunteers — often much longer than the days they put in at their full-time jobs.

McCurdy arrives at Swartz Field in Freeport at 7 a.m. to help prepare the field for the four games that are played on it every day of the tournament. He doesn't leave until about 10 p.m., long after the final pitch is thrown.

"I'm here until the lights are turned off," he said.

Putting in that much time allows the volunteers to get to know the teams.

McCurdy formed a relationship with several coaches on The Netherlands team.

"We chat back and forth on e-mail," McCurdy said. "You get a chance to talk to and meet people you never would have met before."

Bob Yenick of Butler maintains the field at Laura Doerr Park in Saxonburg. He began volunteering for the Freeport Invitational four years ago and also coaches the Saxonburg Colt team that plays in the invitational every year.

Yenick recalls a story from a few years ago. It was a wet week in the area and a team from Kentucky was eager to get on the field and play.

Yenick tried his best to get the field ready but was having trouble, so the players from Kentucky came to the field and helped him prepare it for the game.

To thank them, he threw a picnic that now has become a yearly tradition.

"We ask to get scheduled to play them on Friday," Yenick said. "Our Colt team plays their Colt team and their Legion team plays their Legion team. It's great. It's really for the fun of it."

Yenick shows up to the field at 6 a.m. and doesn't leave until 8 p.m. In addition to getting the field ready, he also has to coach his team.

That leaves no time for his regular job.

"I take a week's vacation," Yenick said. "I live here. But I love it."