Sportsmanship Matters!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And in this case, a picture is all that captured one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship of all time.

The average life for a college graduate is four years. And they fly by quickly. Especially, if you're a student athlete. And for Mallory Holtman, a senior on the Central Washington University softball team, her time is running out. This past Saturday, Holtman dressed up in her home white uniform for the last time in her collegiate career as her team prepared to face off against Western Oregon in a doubleheader on Senior Day.

At 13-5, Western Oregon entered the weekend on top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a one game lead over Central Washington (12-6) heading into a crucial conference doubleheader against the Wildcats. A sweep by either team would give them a commanding lead in the conference with just four games remaining.

The Wolves unloaded their offense in the first contest, compiling 10 hits and 8 runs to defeat CWU 8-1. Which meant, the Wildcats needed a win in the second game in order to remain in the hunt for a regular season GNAC championship.

With the score all knotted at 0-0 in the top of the 2nd, Western Oregon's senior outfielder Sara Tucholsky came through for the Wolves with her biggest hit of her life. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Tucholsky drilled a pitch well over the centerfield wall for her first home run of her career. In fact, Tucholsky had never hit a home run in either high school or college until Saturday. However, being caught up in the moment while rounding first base, Tucholsky realized something was wrong. She forgot to touch the bag. NCAA rules enforces that a player must touch every base along the diamond in order for a run to count. But as Tucholsky changed directions to make her way back to first, she felt her right knee crumble beneath her as she fell to the ground in pain. The senior had torn her ACL.

The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of four major ligaments located in the medial part of the knee connecting the femur to the tibia. And if the ligament is torn, it can hinder one's ability to run, and possibly, even walk. In Tucholsky's case, she could do neither as she layed by the 1st base bag inable to move.

Tucholsky's teammates had already rounded the bases, recording two runs for Western Oregon. But the third could not be counted unless their senior was able to follow them across home plate. Umpires had given the team the option to replace Tucholsky, however, the team would have to forfeit her run by sending a pinch runner to 1st base. And any contact as an active baserunner by her teammates would result in an out. That's when sportsmanship intervened.

As a senior on the Wildcats softball team, Mallory Holtman owns nearly every offensive record at the school. She's accumulated more hits, runs, RBI's and home runs than any other player in Central Washington history. And playing in her final home game of her collegiate career, one that could help her reach the postseason for the first time in her four years at CWU, Holtman's selfless attitude put all of that aside.

The first baseman from White Salmon, Washington and her teammate, Liz Wallace, a junior from Florence, Montana, lifted their opponent, Tucholsky, and carried her on their shoulders around the bases and across home plate. Western Oregon would go on to win the game, 4-2, taking a three game lead over Central Washington in the conference standings, and all but ended the hopes of a postseason birth for the Wildcats.

Whether you're a student, or an athlete, four years in college can seem like a blur. But for seniors Mallory Holtman and Sara Tucholsky and junior Liz Wallace, their college careers were clearly defined last Saturday. And their legacy has been captured thanks to that one picture which expresses their spectacular moment of sporstmanship. I guess it's true what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!