True Sportmanship!!!!
PORTLAND - It's an incredible story of sportsmanship. In one moment, two college softball teams showed an incredible act of compassion no one will forget. [/align]
Last Saturday, Central Washington University senior Sara Tucholsky came to the plate for Western Oregon.
"You know when you hit a ball really good you don't really feel it. It hits the sweet spot and just goes," Tucholsky explained.
Her first ever home run.
"I'm rounding first base and as I'm supposed to be touching the bag and I glanced up as it was crossing over the fence... and I missed first base," Tucholsky added.
She turned back and crumpled.
"My cleat kinda stuck and my knee went some other way. It just changed, instantly... in a second. My knee gave out," Tucholsky said.
"I don't think I remembered I hit a home run. I was just in a lot of pain."
If Tucholsky couldn't round the bases her home run wouldn't count.
What happened next surprised not only Tucholsky but coaches, the stadium, and the sports world.
A player from Central Washington Softball explained, "I went and asked the home plate ump if we could carry her around the bases, and he kinda looked at me a little awestruck and dumbstruck at first."
Two Central Washington players hoisted Tucholsky up and carried her.
"They knelt me down at each base and I touched it with my left foot," said Tucholsky.
A Central Washington Player added, "We were in kind of a bubble the three of us as we went around the bases... didn't really recall what was going on outside of us. Our coaches always taught us its more than a game. And if someone hurt or injured, you do the right thing. You're not gonna remember if you won or lost. You're gonna remember this."
Tucholsky's run: the game winner for Western Oregon.
And she never would have scored if not for the selflessness of her opponents.
"If I have to go out I would like to go out that way," she added.
Tucholsky will have an MRI on her knee on friday.
Doctors say its likely her softball career is over.
But, as Tucholsky says, what a way to go out.[/align]
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'04 Police FLHTPI
"don't argue with an idiot, for they are professionals"
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