This morning I heard a story on Fox & Friends about a Western Oregon senior softball player, Sara Tucholosky who was playing an important game against Central Washington. When she stepped to the plate in a scoreless game with two runners on base she hit the ball out of the park.

This hit gave her team the lead and as she was rounding the bases she collapsed with a knee injury and couldn’t continue around the bases on her own. In order for the home-run to count she had to touch every base and the problem is that her teammates couldn’t assist her or it would be an automatic out and the runs-batted-in (from the runners already on base) wouldn’t count. If they decided to put in a pinch runner the home-run would only count as a single. The runs would score but she would be deprived of the home-run she deserved.

Here is the good part. Two players from the Central Washington team picked up Tucholsky and carried her around the bases, ensuring that she touched everyone. The home-run counted and, as it turned out, was the winning run scored.

Both teams were in the race for the Regional Playoffs and this victory ensured that Western Oregon made it to the post-season games. The players were interviewed on the show and said they did what was right, “She hit the home-run and deserved it” was their only comment. Imagine people standing up for what is right regardless of the personal (or team) loss.

This story was also covered by Fox 12 KPTV-TV in Oregon. The video and story can be seen here.

My friend Skip Murphy at Granitegrok has written a post about this, which can be seen here. Skip writes:

“How often do you hear of people, when important things are on the line, work against their own self-interests?  Sometimes on an individual basis, but on a team?  The actions of those two players may have put their team's season on the line - there could be bad feelings amongst their team mates for them having possibly "thrown away the season".

Yet, the display of sportmanship shown by these two young ladies (and they have certainly earned that title) has to account for much in this time of "out for number one" style society.”