Taking (A Huge) One for the Team

On a beautiful April afternoon in 2008, two college softball teams faced off in a decisive playoff game beneath the Cascade Mountains. The Western Oregon Wolves battled Central Washington University, with the winner advancing and the loser going home.

Sara Tucholsky, playing for the Wolves, was a struggling hitter with a .153 average, got the start only because the regular right fielder had made an error. She had never hit a home run in her life. But with two runners on base, Sara connected with a curveball and sent it…