The Good Softball-ian

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.- Luke 10:33-34

We all know the story of The Good Samaritan. But have you heard the latest from the ranks of NCAA Softball?

Last week, Central Washington was playing Western Oregon for a chance to reach the NCAA Division II Softball tournament. Neither team had reached the tournament before, so this game had a lot riding on it.

Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky came to bat in a scoreless game, with two of her teammates on base. Tucholsky had never hit a home run. Not in college, not in high school. I think I read somewhere, not even in practice. But that's exactly what she did. She hit the ball perfectly and it sailed up and over the fence. If you'd never hit a home run before, you would likely want to watch it to make sure it went out of the park, which is what Sara did. She was so caught up in the excitement that she failed to touch first base. On her way to second, she realized she had missed the bag. As she stopped to turn around, she apparently tore her ACL and lied in a crumpled heap on the ground, writhing from the pain.

What could she do? In order to be officially scored as a home run, she needed to touch all the bases. But, she couldn't even get up. Her coach or teammates couldn't touch her, or she would be ruled out. The only option was to touch first, substitute another runner for her, and have the hit ruled as a single. That's just what the coach was about to do, when she heard a voice say, "Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?" That voice was from Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman (herself an offensive powerhouse). Well, there's nothing in the rules preventing the opposition from helping a base runner, so Holtman and CWU shortstop Liz Wallace picked up Tucholsky and carried her around the bases, letting her left (uninjured) leg down to touch each base. The crowd erupted in a standing ovation (all 300 or so spectators) in what has to be one of the greatest shows of sportsmanship in a long time.

"It was the right thing to do," Holtman told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Thursday. "She'd hit it over the fence. She deserved the home run."

It's amazing what happens when we start viewing people as people, and not as opponents or foreigners or others who are different from us. Holtman could have easily stood by and done nothing. But, then Tucholsky would still have never hit a home run, and the world wouldn't have known that there are still good samaritans out there willing to love others and help others and do the right thing.

Peace