Inspiring Story

[EagleD]

From: FOX SPORTS

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count - an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky.

The umpire said there was no rule against it.

So Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky's legs, and she put her arms over their shoulders. The three headed around the base paths, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each base with her good leg.

"The only thing I remember is that Mallory asked me which leg was the one that hurt," Tucholsky said. "I told her it was my right leg and she said, 'OK, we're going to drop you down gently and you need to touch it with your left leg,' and I said 'OK, thank you very much."'

"She said, 'You deserve it, you hit it over the fence,' and we all kind of just laughed."

"We started laughing when we touched second base," Holtman said. "I said, 'I wonder what this must look like to other people."'

"We didn't know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run," Wallace said Wednesday. "That makes the story more touching than it was. We just wanted to help her."

Holtman said she and Wallace weren't thinking about the playoff spot, and didn't consider the gesture something others wouldn't do.

As for Tucholsky, the 5-foot-2 right fielder was focused on her pain.

"I really didn't say too much. I was trying to breathe," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"I didn't realize what was going on until I had time to sit down and let the pain relax a little bit," she said. "Then I realized the extent of what I actually did."

"I hope I would do the same for her in the same situation," Tucholsky added.

As the trio reached home plate, Tucholsky said, the entire Western Oregon team was in tears.

Central Washington coach Gary Frederick, a 14-year coaching veteran, called the act of sportsmanship "unbelievable."

For Western Oregon coach Pam Knox, the gesture resolved the dilemma Tucholsky's injury presented.

"She was going to kill me if we sub and take (the home run) away. But at the same time I was concerned for her. I didn't know what to do," Knox said.

Tucholsky's injury is a possible torn ligament that will sideline her for the rest of the season, and she plans to graduate in the spring with a degree in business. Her home run sent Western Oregon to a 4-2 victory, ending Central Washington's chances of winning the conference and advancing to the playoffs.

"In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much," Holtman said. "It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home run."

[Eagle1855]

saw this on the Disney Sports Network last night... incredible.

[KRAM1]

And, this is an example of why I like amataur sports more than professional sports! This would NEVER happen in pro baseball! Way to go ladies...a great deal of class and sportsmanship was on display for all to see and read about.....WONDERFUL STORY...every young athlete should read this story and every coach in America should make this mandatory reading for their teams and it should be laminated and posted on every locker room bulletin board across this great nation of ours!

WAY TO GO!

[Quoner]

Get ready to flame me.

I think this story is so appealing right now because it is a sport that does not resonate in our collective consciousness.

Imagine how you would react if the Mean Green were playing for a Sun Belt title in hoops and the other player stole the ball in a tie game and fell and broke his leg streaking away. Then, out of "sportsmanship," our player laid it in the other hoop as time expired. Would you be happy?

What if the football team was in a tie game with 10 seconds left and the other team's back broke into the clear but somehow shattered his legs at the 5. Do we pick up the ball and run it out and then back into our end zone for a safety? Once again, are you happy?

NOTE: I could be proud of a team that did those last two examples, but I think being truly happy about it would be a challenge for all of us. Also, I think this is a really cool story and I cannot believe those girls did what they did. I just wonder what you guys would think if it wasn't some obscure softball team.

EDIT: After thinking about this - let me revise one point. Pretend in both situations UNT has a one point lead.

Edited May 2, 2008 by Quoner

[Green P1]

Lets give everyone a trophy

Edited May 2, 2008 by Green P1

[KRAM1]

I would think that it was about time that sportsmanship won out over the winning! By the way...ijn case you didn't realize it...this sort of thing happens in soccer on a regular basis...even in the pro ranks...if a player gets hurt and in need of real assistance...the ball may well be kicked out of play on purpose by the team with the injured player (if they are in possession of the ball at the time)...when play resumes, the opposing team is awarded a throw in...it is nowhere to be found in the "laws of the game", but the team will actually throw the ball back to the team who kicked it away to stop play and aid the injured player....a coach...it may have been Liverpool's coach in the English Premier League demanded that a replay of a game actually take place because a player on his team did not follow this unwritten "law", and Liverpool scored a goal as a reult of this young players "unsportsmanlike" actions.....true story...I am just not 100% sure it was Liverpool's coach!

Also...you will see such "sportsmanship" in professional golf also...players have "lost" torrnaments because they called a stroke penalty ON THEMSELVES!

Quite different from one of this year's top drfat picks saying that he holds all the time, but doesn't get caught beacuse he has learned to hide it so well. Yep, it ain't cheating unless you get caught...that's usually the case in sports thinking these days.....TOO BAD!!!!

Congrats ladies....well played...Quoner...I understand your thoughts....well said...good question! I too wonder what others would say....

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

---It is very likely that several of the girls on the other team actually knew her well (same school maybe). Not quite the same--- no financial stake as appears in college or beyond.

[FirefightnRick]

If you want to talk about one of the greatest showings of sportsmanship that actually had IT ALL laying on the line then I can't think of a better one than when Lance Armstrong waited for Jan Ullrich after the German fell in the '01 Tour de France. The race was getting down to the end and Ullrich was trailing Armstrong closely in minutes when he went over the mountain side and Armstrong nearly came to a complete stop waiting for him. The German picked up his bike, got back on the road and caught up with Lance. I can't find a specific clip of the crash for some reason but this one has the part where he meets up with him and gives me a handshake in thanks for the gesture at the 57 second mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kif_S8wwRRs

This video shows Ullrich's crash over the hillside at the 1:28 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6qiHqehXaI...feature=related

In '03 Armstrong fell hard when his handlebar caught a fan's hankerchief on the roadside and Ullrich returned the favor by sitting up and slowing down.

Rick

[MeanGreenEagle]

I don't find this story inspiring at all, i'm actually kind of disgusted. Can we please get rid of title IX and stop wasting money on these uncompetitive girls.

[CMJ]

I don't find this story inspiring at all, i'm actually kind of disgusted. Can we please get rid of title IX and stop wasting money on these uncompetitive girls.

[KRAM1]

MeanGreenEagle...I assume you were kidding with that last statement...AT least I hope you were. Also, there was a staement made about "let's all get a trophy" or something like that. If that was "tounge in cheek" I certainly agree...this idea about eveyone getting a trophy for just "showing up" is bogus at beast...BUT, I do not think that has anything to do with "sportsmanship" of the type we are speaking of in this thread. I agree with Rick about the Lance Armstrong thing!