Sacrifice

Today our pastor shared a video about a softball game that brought tears to my eyes. In today's society where athletes are not known for good sportsmanship, and many people won't stop to help someone in need, a couple of rivals carried their opponent around the bases for her home run--in the championship game.

But let me back up. Sara Tucholsky was a senior at Western Oregon. She had never hit a home run--until the final, the championship, game. She knocked the ball over the fence---an automatic home run. All that was left was to run the bases. After rounding first base, she realized she had missed the bag. So she pivoted, and in doing so, tore her ACL (a ligament in her leg). She crawled back to 1st base in agony.

Nobody knew what to do. The coach asked the umpire if she could substitute someone to finish the base run. No. Any help from her team mates would end the play as a two run homer (instead of the three). The crowd waited with anticipation. Mallory Holtman (the opposing Central Washington home run career leader) stepped up and asked, "Excuse me, would it be okay if we carried her around the bases and she touched each bag?" The umpire agreed, so Holtman and the shortstop (Liz Wallace) carried her around the bases, stopping to lower her foot to each base.

Wow! What a sacrifice. What a great example of sportsmanship.

Oh...who won? Central Oregon won by two. But everyone on both teams won that day.