Quote :

"PORTLAND, Ore.: With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence. But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury. She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single. Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count — an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs. Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky. So Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky's legs, and she put her arms over their shoulders. The three headed around the base paths, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each base with her good leg. "The only thing I remember is that Mallory asked me which leg was the one that hurt," Tucholsky said. "I told her it was my right leg and she said, 'OK, we're going to drop you down gently and you need to touch it with your left leg,' and I said 'OK, thank you very much.'" "She said, 'You deserve it, you hit it over the fence,' and we all kind of just laughed." "We started laughing when we touched second base," Holtman said. "I said, 'I wonder what this must look like to other people.'" "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." Holtman said she and Wallace weren't thinking about the playoff spot, and didn't consider the gesture something others wouldn't do. As for Tucholsky, the 5-foot-2 right fielder was focused on her pain. "I really didn't say too much. I was trying to breathe," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. "I didn't realize what was going on until I had time to sit down and let the pain relax a little bit," she said. "Then I realized the extent of what I actually did." "I hope I would do the same for her in the same situation," Tucholsky added. As the trio reached home plate, Tucholsky said, the entire Western Oregon team was in tears. Central Washington coach Gary Frederick, a 14-year coaching veteran, called the act of sportsmanship "unbelievable." For Western Oregon coach Pam Knox, the gesture resolved the dilemma Tucholsky's injury presented. "She was going to kill me if we sub and take (the home run) away. But at the same time I was concerned for her. I didn't know what to do," Knox said. Tucholsky's injury is a possible torn ligament that will sideline her for the rest of the season, and she plans to graduate in the spring with a degree in business. Her home run sent Western Oregon to a 4-2 victory, ending Central Washington's chances of winning the conference and advancing to the playoffs. "In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much," Holtman said. "It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home run." Terms of Use "

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/30/sports/SOF-Home-Run-Help.php

She hit a 3 run HR but tore her ACL as she rounded first. Unless she made it all the way around the umpire said it would only count as a single unless she made it. So the other team's players helped carry her around the bases. Nice act of good sportsmanship.

Oh come on, when I tore my ACL (3rd degree) I was still able to ski down to a ski patrol station



[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 7:13 AM. Reason : j]

5/1/2008 7:12:19 AM

girls...

5/1/2008 7:16:01 AM

she couldnt get up and hop around on her other leg? or hell, even crawl/slide. I mean, maybe its something different about guys and girls, but no way in hell would i let some other dudes carry me around bases. And i really doubt this shit would happen in baseball. I know i wouldn't do it.......you tore your ACL, i didn't do it. Take your single.

5/1/2008 7:30:18 AM

there's no crying carrying the opposing player around the bases in baseball!

5/1/2008 7:45:31 AM

gg other team!

this would have never happened in men's sports or pro sports, but I don't blame them.

5/1/2008 7:47:32 AM

5/1/2008 8:08:32 AM

They all realized that women's sports are meaningless and that they wanted to look good in front of their parents(the only people in attendance), so thats why they did it.

5/1/2008 8:15:52 AM

old

5/1/2008 8:45:34 AM

How the hell do you tear your ACL just running the bases after a homerun is what I want to know.

5/1/2008 8:47:18 AM

eh, freak injuries happen. Better question is how do you miss first base when you've already hit a home run and there's no need to hurry? I think most people, male or female, would have dragged themselves around the bases if they were not helped. Unless you're bleeding profusely or have a bone sticking out of your body I think most competitive people would crawl given what was at stake.

5/1/2008 9:28:04 AM

Quote :

"How the hell do you tear your ACL just running the bases after a homerun is what I want to know."

the same way Wayne Chrebet tore his just going in motion pre-snap.

5/1/2008 9:47:15 AM

Quote :

"Better question is how do you miss first base when you've already hit a home run and there's no need to hurry?"

You've obviously never seen a softball game. Those girls bust their asses out of the box every time, no matter what. Bases are so close, sometimes they're at the bag before the balls over the fence.

5/1/2008 9:52:52 AM

Plus it was her first home run, so she was a little excited.

(Think Mark McGwire's 62nd home run in 1998 if you think a guy couldn't do this.)

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 10:08 AM. Reason : Missing the base, that is.]

5/1/2008 10:08:27 AM

If I was the coach of the team that helped the girl, I'd suspend everyone involved and make them run wind sprints for a month

Inexcusable

5/1/2008 10:17:53 AM

LEE

FOWLER

SYNDROME

5/1/2008 10:20:40 AM

Quote :

"old"

?

The article was published YESTERDAY and was on the news this morning.

I agree that this wouldn't happen in mens' sports.

5/1/2008 1:23:21 PM

Quote :

"As the trio reached home plate, Tucholsky said, the entire Western Oregon team was in tears."

They were all on their period.

5/1/2008 2:10:51 PM

that was a really awesome story

5/1/2008 2:14:44 PM

^^^ because he would hopefully crawl his ass around the bases

5/1/2008 3:46:30 PM

what in the hell are woman's "sports" doing in SPORTS talk

5/1/2008 3:55:38 PM

you know what makes girls stupid: compassion

5/1/2008 4:13:10 PM

Adam Morrison is supposed to be the only person that cries in sports.

5/1/2008 4:18:33 PM

one of the virtues of civilised cultures is the recognition that, the spirit of any given social contract outwieghs the letter of that contract

this event is a manifestation of that virtue

5/1/2008 5:09:26 PM

A Leg of Their Own

5/1/2008 5:17:19 PM

^ ahahahaha

seriously my brother tore his acl playing soccer and still kicked for the football team without getting surgery on it

he only missed one field goal that season. also there was a kid playing football and he had NO legs.

5/1/2008 5:42:32 PM

reminds me of when TA McLendon's teammates held him up so he could finish a game of ping pong (until the paddle repeatedly fell out of his hand)

5/1/2008 5:45:46 PM

Shit yall must have had some pussy ACL tears, when I tore mine I couldn't even stand on it immediately afterward.

It wasn't like "ow standing on this leg hurts too bad"

if I tried to stand on it I would have fallen and busted my ass because it didn't support weight.

5/1/2008 6:16:42 PM

i bet you would have crawled around the bases

5/1/2008 6:39:19 PM

Quote :

"Shit yall must have had some pussy ACL tears, when I tore mine I couldn't even stand on it immediately afterward."

I have a 3rd degree tear, it was torn completely in half. I mean how much worse can you make it?

Of course, an hour later after getting to the medical clinic at the base of the mountain I could barely bend it at all b/c of the swelling.



[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 7:36 PM. Reason : and left on crutches]

5/1/2008 7:35:16 PM

Adrenaline, ftw!

5/2/2008 5:20:21 AM