LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — On a Southeastern University softball field, players put the game aside to help an opponent in need, even though it put them behind in runs.
“What a moment here in Lakeland, Florida,” said an announcer calling the Southeastern University Fire and Grand View Vikings softball game Saturday. “Some things are bigger than the game.”
Southeastern softball players Leah Gonzalez and Chapel Cunningham say it was a pressure-filled situation.
SEU was ahead 4-1, but the other team had the bases loaded.
Then, the catcher for the Grand View Vikings, Kaitlyn Moses, hit a grand slam.
Between first and second bases, Moses suffered an injury and fell to the ground in pain.
The incident can be seen in the video below, provided to News Channel 8 by Southeastern University.
With the win on the line, Cunningham and Gonzalez lifted Moses up and carried her across three bases.
They made sure to tap her foot onto each base, pushing their opponent ahead in a game they would end up losing.
Moses asked Cunningham and Gonzalez for hugs before being taken to her dugout by her teammates.
“Me and Chapel were like ‘Girl, don’t you worry. You deserved that. You hit the ball, injuries happen. We’re here for you,’” Gonzalez said.
“I just knew it was the right thing to do. Here at Southeastern they teach us, or especially on our team, they try to tell us to do the thing that ought to be done and I knew that that was what we should do so we didn’t really think twice,” said Cunningham.
According to the rules, the players said, members of Moses’ own team could not touch her or the runs would not count.
“The display of sportsmanship by the Southeastern University Softball team speaks volumes to their character, humanity, and greater purpose. The result of their actions caused their team in the game to trail by one run, yet that was of minimal concern to those players in that moment,” wrote Grand View Softball Coach Lou Yacinich in a statement.
The softball world is small, Gonzalez said, and players look out for each other.
“What would happen if those were one of my girls? I would love for someone on the other team to pick them up and take them around,” she said.
The Southeastern University softball coach Kayla Watkins said she was not surprised her players sprang into action.
“I get feedback on campus all the time about our girls and how they do things. So for me as a coach, it was just kind of cool because I know that about them but for others to get to see that in them is kind of cool,” she said.
