Hi, I am Tara O’Gorman, Barbara’s assistant.  Barbara asked if I would be interested in posting my own thoughts on her website blog, and I happily jumped at the opportunity. Look for my weekly blog, posting interesting articles, thoughts, and other bits related to customer service, inspiration, and motivation.
This week’s post was a ‘no brainer’ for me after I first learned of the story. I am a HUGE sports fan, and the combination of sportsmanship, inspiration, and service to others fits the theme of this blog so well. I hope you enjoy the following article and video post about a group of college softball players who rose above the sole desire to win and, with an amazing act of selflessness, have touched all who have heard their story.
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From the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon:
“Injured Western Oregon player helped around bases after hitting homer”
MATT MONAGHAN
Statesman Journal
April 30, 2008
Last weekend’s softball series between Western Oregon and Central
Washington was supposed to be a battle between two teams trying to
win a conference championship.
But as the Wolves boarded their bus back home to Monmouth from
Ellensburg, Wash., Saturday, no one cared much about the outcome.
That’s because a rare act of sportsmanship – a gesture that left nary
a dry eye among those who witnessed it first hand – during the second
game of a doubleheader overshadowed who won and who lost.
With the first-place Wolves two games ahead of the Wildcats in the
Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, Saturday’s late-season
doubleheader figured to be a hard-nosed affair.
And after WOU won the first game 8-1, Central Washington was
determined to salvage a split.
In the second inning of a scoreless game two, 5-foot-2 WOU senior
reserve Sara Tucholsky, batting just .088 (3 for 34) on the season,
stepped to the plate.
The Forest Grove-native had never hit a home run in her four-year
career, so when she hit the second offering she saw from Wildcats
pitcher Katriina Reime over the center field fence, Tucholsky and her
teammates and coaches went nuts.
“Finally, I was thinking, after all that hard work I finally hit one.
It was my goal all year,” said Tucholsky.
“The ball was a shot,” WOU head coach Pam Knox said. “Our dugout
erupted, and I’m jumping around like a little kid.”
Knox, the Wolves’ third base coach, was high-fiving the other two
players as they jogged home, but Tucholsky wasn’t following behind.
“I thought, ‘Where’s Sara?,’ ” Knox said.
Tucholsky, running to first base and caught up in her own exuberance,
watched the ball sail over the fence and missed the bag “by five
feet,” she said.
Recognizing her error, she quickly turned back to touch the base and
then … then there was nothing but pain.
It was her right knee. It had given out.
One moment Tucholsky was on top of the world after hitting a three-
run homer in a crucial game. The next, she lay in a crumpled heap, in
tears, in the dirt off first – her only home run seemingly destined
to be erased by a cruel twist of fate.
“The pain was pretty overwhelming. I don’t remember much else,”
Tucholsky said. “It didn’t go through my head (about losing the home
run) right away.”
Despite the ball going over the fence, a home run only counts if the
player runs around the bases. Assistance from a teammate or trainer
isn’t allowed.
Knox’s first reaction was that Tucholsky’s injury was nothing more
than her problematic ankles acting up again and that she’d be able to
recover enough to hobble around the bases.
“I was waiting for her to sit up; I figured she just needed a minute
to calm down and assess the situation, but it wasn’t happening,” Knox
said.
Having never experienced anything like this in her 20-plus years of
coaching, Knox didn’t know what to do.
She conferred with the umpires, who explained that Tucholsky could
remain at first base, but that her home run would officially be
scored as nothing more than a long single.
Assuming no other option, Knox started back toward the WOU dugout to
call for a pinch runner.
Then came a voice.
It was Mallory Holtman, Central Washington’s senior first baseman and
career leader in home runs and a host of other offensive school
records.
Without prompting, the four-year starter asked if she and a teammate
could carry Tucholsky around the bases, ensuring Tucholsky got her
home run.
“I was in shock,” Knox said. “I never even thought of it.”
Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace each grabbed one of Tucholsky’s
legs and carried her firefighter-style to each base, gently letting
her down to tap each with her uninjured left foot.
The poignancy of the moment wasn’t lost on anyone, especially
Tucholsky.
“I just said, ‘Thank you guys so much,’ ” Tucholsky said.
The three fell into giggles as they slowly made their way, briefly
lightening the moment, but everyone else was in tears.
“I was bawling like a baby,” Knox said. “Fans were crying, players.
We were so moved.”
Holtman recalled her act in an interview with ESPN.com.
“Honestly, it’s one of those things that I hope anyone would do it
for me,” she said. “She hit the ball over the fence. She’s a senior;
it’s her last year. … It’s the right thing to do. She was obviously
in agony.”
Western Oregon went on to win the game 4-2, not that anyone really
cared.
As soon as the players boarded the bus they each got on their cell
phones, telling family and friends about the unique turn of events.
State Sen. Peter Courtney, a Western Oregon administrator, called the
Statesman Journal to make sure a report would be published in
Sunday’s edition.
And soon the story caught fire.
Western Oregon’s sports information director, Russ Blunck, was
bombarded with media requests, including one from the New York Times.
“I was really surprised, because we’re a small, D-II school, and it’s
women’s athletics,” Knox said.
Tucholsky said she doesn’t know quite how to react to all the
attention.
“I’m wondering why everyone wants to talk to me, they (Holtman and
Wallace) were the ones who did it,” she said.
“But if this story can bring some good, then it’s worth it.”
The injury to Tucholsky’s knee won’t be diagnosed until after the
swelling has gone down, but her season is definitely over, she said.
That’s too bad, considering the Wolves are in a good position to make
an appearance at the NCAA D-II regionals for the first time in school
history.
Knox already has assured Tucholsky that she’ll travel with the team
if they qualify.
But no matter how WOU’s season plays out, it won’t be remembered for
wins and losses.
“It was a huge lesson in teaching us that although we’re always
trying to work hard and be the best, it’s moments like that that you
respect that it’s just a game,” Knox said. “I hope it’s a lesson my
players will never forget. I certainly won’t.”
Full Article and photo:
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080430/SPORTS/804300483
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3380875&n8pe6c=2
Click on the link above to watch the ESPN video “Touching Them All.”
To read more inspiring stories like this, order “The Simple Truths of Service–Inspired by Johnny the Bagger” by Barbara Glanz and Ken Blanchard at www.barbaraglanz.com/products/books.php3.
