LISBON — One by one,  players stood in a slush-covered batter’s box, swinging at a Day-Glo green softball and leveling catcalls at their opponents as they tried to field on a snow-covered diamond.

“It’s a different game,” Keith West of Lewiston said. “In snowball, all it takes is one slip and the game changes.”

Men and women play in anything from boots to cleats as they fight the slippery melting snow or their own cold feet. Control rather than speed becomes a premium. And power — that ability to whack the ball a long distance — becomes even more important. The frozen ball carries farther and the slower outfield gives every well-hit ball the chance to be a homer.

On Saturday, more than 80 players from as far away as New Hampshire and Knox County gathered in Lisbon for a day-long tournament.

West, a die-hard softballer, organized the eight-hour event as a fundraiser.  Seven teams of 10 or 12 players each paid an entrance fee of $150 to play. By the end of the day, they’d raised more than $1,200 for a local man, Mike Racine of Bowdoin. The 19-year-old suffered a paralyzing snowmobile spill just before Christmas and lost the use of his legs. Racine is undergoing rehabilitation in a Boston clinic.

“He’s a great kid,” said Bob Willey of Topsham. Racine is the best friend of Willey’s son, Josh. “(Racine) would do anything for you. And he could use the help.”

The cost of the hospital and clinic stays is mounting, Bob Willey said.

He alerted West, who spread news of the accident on an amateur softballer Web site. The tournament, held at Lisbon’s Pinewoods Road Sports Complex, seemed a natural step.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, the players began slugging away on two diamonds. Each team played at least three six-inning games. Though several of the teams have have been together for years, most played in sweatpants and sweatshirts rather than uniforms and created silly names for the occasion, such as Team Fruit Basket and the Red Snappers.

The games were informal, with a ground-rule triple called for balls that rolled into the tree line, and a steady stream of catcalls were exchanged.

“Eye of the tiger, baby,” a player shouted toward the mound. After a confusing base-running play, somebody broken open their elementary school rules with a call for a ghost runner.

In the finals,  Team Cap Gemini edged out Team Fruit Basket in a score of 11-10.

[email protected]