Then Mallory Holtman, the powerful first baseman for Central Washington, said words that brought a chill to everybody who heard them:

"Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?"

The umpires huddled and said it would be legal, so Holtman and the Central Washington shortstop, Liz Wallace, lifted Tucholsky, hands crossed under her, and carried her to second base, and gently lowered her so she could touch the base. Then Holtman and Wallace started to giggle, and so did Tucholsky, through her tears, and the three of them continued this odd procession to third base and home to a standing ovation.

"Everybody was crying," Knox recalled Tuesday. "It was an away game, and our four fans were crying. We couldn't hit after that."

Central Washington ended up losing the game because of this.  But, I feel they gained so much more.  The old saying "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" comes to mind here.  I don't know about you, but I can't get through the video without tears welling up in my eyes.  It's such an amazing story about the character of these softball players.  Take a look for yourself here.