Battery-powered
Sojka catches Doffin’s perfect game and hits grand slam in Andrean’s win
Andrean’s battery of junior pitcher Caleigh Doffin and sophomore catcher Val Sojka combined for a banner Monday.
Doffin tossed a five-inning perfect game, and Sojka blasted a grand slam in addition to a run-scoring double as the 59ers topped visiting Boone Grove 10-0 in a matchup of teams ranked in the Class 2A state coaches poll.
Doffin, who pointed to her curveball working particularly well, had five strikeouts for No. 5 Andrean (2-1) as she registered her first such gem.
“It feels amazing,” Doffin said. “I didn’t think it was going to happen. I came out here with no expectations. I just did my best.
“I warmed up thoroughly so I could just go out there and do my thing. … I felt very well-prepared. I have all these great people, and my catcher Val really set me up.”
No. 2 Boone Grove (1-1) came closest to a hit with one out in the fifth. But freshman shortstop Abbey Bond made a nice over-theshoulder catch running toward the outfield to snag junior Jamie Botma’s liner.
“She’s going to hit spots, and she’s going to change speeds,” Andrean coach Glenn Eisfelder said of Doffin. “That’s what she
did. She had nice command of her ball, put it in play, and we made plays.”
Sojka cracked her grand slam to left-center in the first to give Andrean a 5-0 lead.
“I went up there hoping to hit it — not hoping to hit a grand slam, but hoping to get on base,” Sojka said. “It was just positive.”
Sojka’s RBI double capped a four-run fourth.
“It’s her hard work,” Eisfelder. “She’s put in a ton of work, not only behind the plate but at the plate as well. She’s one of those kids who loves the game. She’s dedicated. She realizes we can only practice so much here, so there’s a lot she does on her own.”
Andrean senior Julia Schutz went 2 for 2 with a two-run double and a walk. Freshman Libby Voliva had two hits, including a leadoff triple in the fifth that preceded junior Avery Antczak’s one-out, game-ending double. Senior Leah Navarro also had two hits.
Boone Grove coach Ron Saunders took the result in stride.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “I could give you all kinds of excuses, but I’m not going to. We’re better than what we played. You can’t make the mistakes we made and beat a good team. And they are a good team.
“What do you do? You chalk
it up and come back Wednesday (against Lowell) and try it again.”
If history repeats, Andrean and Boone Grove could meet again in the regional, which has happened in each of the past two seasons the postseason tournament was conducted.
In 2019, Boone Grove won 9-5 at that stage after Andrean won 5-0 during the regular season. In 2018, Andrean won 5-4 in the regional after Boone Grove won 15-5 in six innings during the regular season.
“That’s what you shoot for,” Saunders said. “In reality, this game doesn’t mean anything. It’s the second game for us, and I tell them it’s preseason. Show me what you got here. Next week, I’ll know after what you show me. Well, nobody showed me anything (Monday).
“I didn’t get mad. I didn’t yell at anybody. But they all wanted the day off (Tuesday), and I didn’t give
it to them. You don’t play like this and not come back out and work. They have a little bit of growing to do.”
Eisfelder would welcome a rematch.
“We’d love to see them again,” he said. “We love the rivalry with Boone Grove. We love to play them. Ron’s a great coach.
He does a terrific job. We know when we play them we’re going to get a ballgame.”
Doffin recalled the teams’ previous matchup and was looking forward to this one.
“This was kind of a revenge game,” she said. “Being at that game when we lost to them in regionals, I wanted to get back at them this year when we played them.”