Brooke Boetjer wins Gatorade Player of the Year

Thursday, June 7, 2012
Brooke Boetjer

South Putnam pitcher Brooke Boetjer has been named the 2012 Gatorade Indiana Softball Player of the Year. The honor comes as the senior and the rest of the Eagles stand on the brink of the ISHAA State Championship game this Saturday.

The Gatorade Player of the Year is based on three aspects: athletic achievement, academic excellence and exemplary character. Boetjer excelled on all three levels and joins well-known athletes such as New York Yankee Derek Jeter, Los Angeles Spark Candace Parker and professional soccer player and Olympic golf medalist Abby Wambach as honored athletes.

"This award is a great honor for not only Brooke, but also our softball team," South Putnam head coach Chris Jones said. "It is truly an amazing honor and accomplishment. It is wonderful to see all of her hard work being rewarded."

The 6-foot Boetjer led the Eagles to a 30-0 record entering Saturday's state championship game and on a 53-game winning streak over two seasons. This season Boetjer is 21-0 with an impressive ERA of 0.11 and 159 strikeouts.

Not only a terror on the mound, Boetjer is batting .542 with 40 RBI and five home runs. She also has seven doubles on the season. Boejter is also a First Team All-State selection and a Miss Softball finalist.

In the classroom, the senior maintained a 3.59 GPA. She's also a member of 4-H and was a volunteer elementary school tutor and youth softball instructor.

Boetjer will be joining the Indiana Hoosier softball team this fall after signing her letter of intent.

"With Brooke being South Putnam's first ever Gatorade Player of the Year, I know that our school and community are very proud of this accomplishment," Jones said.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.

The selection process is administered by ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.