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Watch VideoOpposing team carries injured player to home plate
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Source: NBC
It's an incredible story of sportsmanship.
In one moment, two college softball teams showed an incredible act of compassion no one will forget.
Last Saturday, Central Washington University senior Sara Tucholsky came to the plate for Western Oregon.
Sara Tucholsky says, "You know when you hit a ball really good. You don't really feel it. It hits the sweet spot and just goes."
Her first ever home run.
Sara says "I'm rounding first base and as I'm supposed to be touching the bag and I glanced up as it was crossing over the fence--and I missed first base."
She turned back and crumpled. "My cleat kinda stuck and my knee went some other way. It just changed, instantly, in a second. My knee gave out."
Sara says, "I don't think I remembered I hit a home run. I was just in a lot of pain."
If Sara couldn't round the bases, her home run wouldn't count.
What happened next surprised not only Sara but coaches, the stadium, and the sports world. A player from Central Washington Softball said, "I went and asked the home plate ump if we could carry her around the bases, and he kinda looked at me a little awestruck and dumbstruck at first."
Two Central Washington players hoisted Sara up and carried her. Sara says "They knelt me down at each base and I touched it with my left foot."
A Central Washington Player says "We were in kind of a bubble, the three of us as we went around the bases. Didn't really recall what was going on outside of us. Our coaches always taught us its more than a game. And if someone hurt or injured, you do the right thing. You're not gonna remember if you won or lost. You're gonna remember this."
Sara's run: the game winner for Western Oregon. And she never would have scored if not for the selflessness of her opponents. Sara says, "If I have to go out I would like to go out that way."
Sara will have an MRI on her knee on Friday. Doctors say its likely her softball career is over. But, as Sara says, what a way to go out.
