As I was getting ready to head into work this morning, I happened to catch a nice little story about sportsmanship on ESPN’s “Sportcenter.” (It was nice to see something touching on ESPN for once, not annoying on-air personalities like Stuart Scott, Chris Berman and Stephen A. Smith.)

During a college softball game last week that featured two little-known schools from the Pacific Northwest, two Central Washington players carried an injured Western Oregon player around the bases after a home run.

After hitting the first home run of her career, Sara Tucholsky accidentally missed first base on her way to second. As she stopped to turn around and touch first base, her knee buckled and she crumpled to the ground in tears. Tucholsky was unable to trot around the bases to complete the home run.

Since softball rules prevented her teammates from picking her up and carrying her around the bases – you can’t touch a teammate on the base paths – two Central Washington players, Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace, hoisted her up and carried her to home plate. They didn’t have to the right thing there, but they did. Don’t you wish some professional athletes were that way?

(I think ESPN might have “borrowed” the story from the NY Times, so I’ll give them their proper due.)

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