Character Goes a Long Way...All the Way to Home

The top of the second inning, Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky comes up to bat with two runners on. She swings the bat and the ball sails over the left field fence. The first homerun of her career (well the first of her lifetime) Sara is so excited that she misses first base. As she turned to go back she fell to the ground and crawled back to first. She had just torn her ACL and couldn't finish her trot. If anyone on her team was to tend to her, she would be called out. If a pinch runner were entered (as the umpires said on that day) it would be ruled a two run single.

That is when the greatest act of sportsmanship began to unravel. Mallory Holtman, a Central Washington Senior playing in her last home game, asked if here and a teammate could carry Sara around the bases to award her the homerun that she had earned. And that they did, stopping at each base to allow her to touch it with her good foot. The three run homerun wound up being the game winner, but the character of the girls from Central Washington will be what is remembered by the crowd of almost 100.

I have always heard that you only have one chance to make a first immpression. Your character is what people will remember.

When we just forget about ourselves and start thinking about others, that is when our character will begin to take shape. All Mallory had to do was stay quiet and the outcome of that came might have turned to her favor. But she didn't! She said that she did what she would have wanted someone else to do for her. Sara will never forget Mallory and Mallory will never forget Sara. This first impression was priceless.

So our lesson today is to build good character, it lasts a lifetime.

To see the ESPN clip click here.