true sportsmanship

did you hear about the central washington vs western oregon softball game? these teams play in ncaa div ii -- small teams at small colleges in the wilds of the west. anonymous players battle for a place in obscure record books. there are important games & championships, just as there are in any conference, any league, any sport.

so, these two teams were playing for the top spot in their conference in a double-header at central washington last saturday. senior sara tucholsky, a wee little 5'2" part-time starter for western oregon, got up to bat. she hit the first home run of her career -- slammed one over the center field fence. she ran to 1st & missed the bag. circling back to touch base, she twisted & tore her acl and fell to the infield in a heap. the two teammates who had been on base reached home & scored, and everyone looked around for sara. the first base coach was trying to get her to crawl back to first base because if the coach touched her or helped her, it would be an out. if any of her teammates touched her or helped her, it would be an out.

then, central washington senior mallory holtman spoke up & asked the umpire if it would be okay if she and a teammate helped sara. so, mallory & central washington's liz wallace helped their opposition score a run. they carried sara around the bases, stopping briefly by each bag to gently lower her left foot to make the crucial contact.

mallory says it's really no big deal -- it's what anyone would have done. she says she just thought of it first & that doesn't mean nobody else would have thought of it. i'm not so sure. you see, mallory is facing knee surgery in both knees when the season is over. she knows what it's like to go down - the physical pain & the mental frustration. and, mallory holds just about every softball record in the books of the great northwest athletic conference. she knows what it feels like to score a home run. now she knows what it feels like to help someone else score one.

i don't care which side you're cheering for, that has got to be one run that everyone wants to see make it home.