High school softball players praised for helping injured opponent complete home run
Fans at a high school softball game in Wisconsin were blown away by a fifth inning home run — not by the sheer power of the batter, but by the sportsmanship of players who carried their injured opponent to home plate.
On April 5, the Seymour and Bay Port High School softball teams were playing the second game of a double header when Seymour sophomore Sophie Wery stepped up to bat. "I hit a home run, and then I was rounding second on my victory lap, and then I did not see a hole there and I stepped right in it and twisted my ankle," Wery told local news channel WBY, who immediately collapsed to the ground in pain. "I tried to put pressure on it and I couldn't. I was really scared my season was over."
According to softball rules, a player’s teammates or coach are not allowed to touch a player until they reach home base. So when the sophomore softball player couldn’t get up, Wery thought she was stranded. But not for long.
After Bay Port softball coach Amber Francour urged her players to help their fallen opponent, juniors Maddy Ehlke and Kyleigh Schuette rushed to Wery’s side, each grabbing an arm and leg. The two picked up their Seymour competitor and carried her to home plate so she wouldn’t have to forfeit her homer, making sure her toes touched each base along the way.
“She was kind of like laughing the whole time. She's like, 'Sorry guys.' We're like, 'We're good,'" Ehlke told WBY. The crowd applauded the trio as they finally completed their journey to home plate. Once there, Wery’s Seymour teammates carried her to the dugout to get treatment.
"I can honestly say I've never seen a moment like that," says Seymour softball coach Karri Vandenlangenberg."I actually went across the diamond and shook the coach's hand and just let her know that she had a real class act team, because that speaks volumes when a team like that just ups and does it.”
Coach Francour says she hopes to do more than help the Bay Port softball team wins games— she wants to teach the girls how to be great young athletes and even better young people.
"Ever since I was young, I've been taught sportsmanship is key to a great player, and just putting that into play now,” says Schuette. “It's really showing how much I've grown as a player, and it was really rewarding to have that feeling."
Wery told WBY that she was surprised and grateful for the Bay Port players for helping her out even though her home run solidified the Seymour’s victory. The Bay Port softball team lost both games of the doubleheader at 10-0 and 15-11, reports The Press Times.
But for Ehlke, winning came secondary to being able to help out a fellow athlete. “It meant a lot to me to help Sophie out. I know how it feels to hurt myself, so it made me feel really good to help so she could get credit for her accomplishment,” Ehlke told the Press Times. “In the end, we did lose that game, but we know we did the right thing and showed good sportsmanship, which is more important than winning.”
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