Do the Right Thing

When you get that runner's high, you just know it! When you get that rush of emotion after hitting a three-point shot at the buzzer, it's a feeling you can't explain. When you drain a 22-foot putt on the 18th hole to win the match, your legs are shaking, your heart is out of sync and you just are in a daze! When I read the following AP story last May, you could multiply all those emotions by 10! Of all the stories you hear about our youth and lack of sportsmanship, this one makes you understand, ONE: What true sportsmanship is all about and, TWO: What great young people we still have. Walk off was missing from her 1st home run. When Western Oregon University softball player Sara Tucholsky sent a drive over the center-field fence with two on in the second inning against Central Washington, it was the highlight of her career—the senior had never hit a home run in high school or college. But she missed first base, and as she headed back to tag it, her right knee gave out. She crawled back to first but could do no more. If her teammates tried to help her around the bases, she would be called out. If a pinch runner came in, her hit would count only as a single. Then the first baseman for Central Washington, Mallory Holtman, who lead the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in career home runs, asked if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky. The ump 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 bases, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each bag. "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 didn't know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run," Wallace said. "That makes the story more touching than it was. We just wanted to help her." The 5-foot-2 Tucholsky, who later learned she had torn her ACL, was focused on her pain. As the trio reached home plate, Tucholsky said, the entire Western Oregon team was in tears. Central Washington coach Gary Frederick called that act of sportsmanship "unbelievable." It was particularly so because the 4-2 loss eliminated his team's chance of winning the conference and making 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." Golly! Geezy Peezy! Holy Moly! Could you not keep going? I know the sports gods are smiling! Way to go KIDS, we're still learning from you.