Blog Posting #83, October 25, 2009

A Big Lesson in a Small Town

In May of 2008, two college women’s softball teams squared off. Central Washington and Western Oregon were both contenders for the league championship and whichever team won that day would have had a definite edge. There would be sliding into second, cleats first; diving into home plate, crashing into the catcher; and intimidating the batter with, “Hey, batter, batter, batter.” Going into the game, there was only one thing on the minds of the coaches, players, and fans—win. But that was about to change. For one small moment in time, winning was going to be put into its proper place.

In the top of the second inning, with two runners on base, Western Oregon’s Sara Tucholsky stepped up to the plate. At 5’2”, Sara had never hit a home run before. “I’m a line drive hitter,” she claimed. But on the second pitch, to everyone’s surprise, Tucholsky connected and sent the baseball over the center field fence. There were only 100 in attendance and half of them cheered madly, anticipating a victory.

Sara rounded first but, when she approached second base, she realized she had not touch first base so she turned to go back. That’s when the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in her right knee snapped. In excruciating pain, she fell to the ground. But she knew she had to get back to first base so she crawled for what seemed hours. As she reached the base, she hugged it with one hand and grabbed her right knee with the other. No one knew what to do. 

Quickly, Sara’s coach, Pam Knox, approached the umpire, Jacob McChesney, and asked what the ruling was if Sara was not able to round the bases. He told her, “A two-run single.” The rule states, after hitting a home run, a player must touch all the bases, in order, and cannot be assisted by anyone from her own team. This was bad news for Western Oregon as they would lose a run but it was even worse news for Tucholsky; her dream of hitting a home run would forever remain just a dream.

Central Washington’s Mallory Holtman, who had hit more home runs than any player in conference history, overheard the ruling and approached the umpire. She asked if it was within the rules for players from the opposing team to carry Sara around the bases. Though puzzled by the request, McChesney agreed. Without hesitation, Holtman and her teammate Liz Wallace, asked Tucholsky if they could pick her up and carry her around the bases. Sara said, “Yes.”

Holtman replied, “You hit the home run; you deserve it.” They picked Sara up so she was in a sitting position and, when approaching each base, gently lowered her so she could touch the base with her left foot.

When they reached home plate, no cheers went up. Instead, tears came down. The entire crowd, the coaches, and the players were elevated to a state of emotion they had never experienced before. There was something more going on here than softball. There was something more important happening than two teams competing for the conference championship. For that magical moment, no one thought about winning.

Ironically, Western Oregon won the game 4-2 and went on to win the conference championship and head to the nationals. Central Washington stayed home and read about it in the papers.

So that’s it. That’s the story. Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace taught the rest of the players, the coaches, the umpire, and the crowd, an important lesson that day: Practice to win. Play to win. But never forget: Sports are coached by people, umpired by people, and played by real people. And, if you have to choose between winning and people, well, here’s what Sara Tucholsky’s coach had to say.

“It’s a great moment when someone has character to step up and do the right thing at the right time.”

That’s the lesson everyone there learned that day. But that was more than a year ago. Will this story be buried between the chain-linked fences of that small-town baseball field, under the dirt, once dimpled with the tears of those that “got it?” Not if one of us gives it life by telling the story. Someone dear to me gave me this story. I’ve given it to you. Now it’s your turn.

http://darynkagan.com/sports/stories/sp_091008_softballcarry.html
 
 
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