#1- Softball Sportsmanship

#1- Softball Sportsmanship

First of all, oops about the length of time between posts. It wasn’t intentional, I just let other things get in the way.

In my opinion, the greatest sports moment of all time involved three college women. Of my Top 4, this also happens to be the most recent as it only happened last year. By now, hopefully everyone had heard the story and/or seen the clip, if not here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVlKtI7yd_s

On Saturday April 26, 2008, Western Oregon University senior Sara Tucholsky came up to bat in the 2nd inning of an elimination game in the Conference playoffs versus Central Washington University. With two runners on, and an 0-1 count Sara connected with the next pitch and sent it over the fence for her first career home run. In her excitement at having hit her first-ever home run she missed first base. When she turned back to tag it before continuing on to second, she collapsed to the ground in agony. Her ACL in her right knee had torn completely through. Sara managed to crawl back to first and upon arriving she laid on the ground, hugged the base and cried.

Her coach, Pam Knox rushed onto the field and began discussing options with the umpires. The umpires made it clear that if any of Sara’s coaches or teammates helped her, she would be ruled out. Coach Knox was given the choice to substitute for Sara but that doing so would erase her 3-run home run and replace it with a 2-run single. That is when Moment #1 occurred.

Mallory Holtman, argued by some as the greatest softball player in Central Washington history, as well as school home run record-holder stepped in and said, “What if some of the Central Washington players carry her around the bases?” The umpires, obviously taken aback at such a suggestion, stated that no rule precluded the opposing team from doing so. Mallory grabbed her teammate, Liz Wallace and they walked over to Sara, picked her up off the ground and carried her around the bases. They stopped at each base and helped Sara touch the bag with her uninjured leg. When they reached home plate, Mallory and Liz set Sara down and let her teammates take over while they quietly excused themselves and returned to their own teammates.

Witnesses state that everyone on the field and in the stands was in tears. When asked why she carried her opponent around the bases Mallory replied, “She hit it over the fence and was in pain and she deserved a home run.” Mallory didn’t know that Sara had never before hit a home run in her career. She also didn’t know that she and Liz’s act of sportsmanship would eliminate their team from the conference playoffs and a chance at the NCAA tournament as Sara’s home run proved a deciding factor in Western Oregon’s 4-2 victory.

That ended up being the final game of both Sara Tucholsky’s and Mallory Holtman’s playing careers.

Incredible doesn’t even begin to describe this act of sportsmanship. In an age where player misbehavior both on and off the field is reported non-stop (see previous posts on my blog regarding the NFL), it was very inspiring and refreshing to see such a simple act that carried so much power and meaning. Mallory and her teammates may not have won the game that day, but they won something much more. They taught us all that doing what is good and right even when it doesn’t benefit you, is what is most important. I hope that we all can take that to heart so that when we are presented with our own moral dilemmas we can make the right choice.

Several months later, Mallory, Liz, and Sara were honored by teary-eyed amateur and professional athletes, sportscasters, sportswriters, and notable celebrities, as they were presented with the ESPY Award for Best Sports Moment and received a 30-second standing ovation.