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Excerpt from
Finish Strong: Teen Athlete...Developing the Champion Within,
by Dan Green

Western Oregon University's Sara Tucholsky had no idea that the first - and,
as it turns out, only - homerun of her career would cause ripples that would
make her last swing of the bat as a college softball player a national media
sensation.

With two runners on and her team down a run to Central Washington
University, Sara hit a homerun to centerfield. As she rounded first base,
she missed the bag. When she turned to tag the base, she injured her knee.
Able only to crawl back to the base, Sara was told that she would be called
out if her teammates came to her aid. If a pinch runner checked into the
game, her homerun would count only as a single.

Players and fans alike were stunned when Central Washington first baseman
Mallory Holtman, the conference's all-time homerun leader, asked the umpire
if there was any rule against opponents helping an injured player around the
bases.

She was told that there was not. Together, Holtman and shortstop Liz
Wallace picked up Tucholsky and carried her around the bases, stopping at
each bag to allow Sara to touch it with her good leg. "It was the right
thing to do," Holtman said in an interview on national television, after the
respectful act of sportsmanship had been witnessed by millions on ESPN and
had become a YouTube sensation.

The three runs sent Western Oregon to a 4-2 victory, ending Central
Washington's chances of winning the conference and advancing to the
playoffs.

"It's a great story," Western Oregon coach Pam Knox said, "something I'll
never forget - the game's about character and integrity and sportsmanship,
and it's not always about winning and losing."

As it turns out, the players who helped Sara had no idea of the
circumstances surrounding the at-bat, or that the story would make headlines
around the country. "We didn't know that she was a senior or that this was
her first home run," Wallace said Wednesday. "That makes the story more
touching than it was. We just wanted to help her." The gesture left Sara's
Western Oregon teammates in tears. "I hope I would do the same for her in
the same situation," Sara said. Central Washington coach Gary Frederick
called the act of sportsmanship "unbelievable."

"In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much," Holtman, who
initiated the act, said. "It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence
and was in pain, and she deserved a homerun."

via Ping.fm

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