Doty Concentrates on Turning Tragedy Into a Turning Point : Softball: Former Westminster High standout, whose brother was killed in an auto accident, helps Arizona win NCAA title.

Andrea Jane Doty--A.J. on the softball diamond--remembers the struggle in the summer of 1990.

That was when her brother, Robbie, died in a one-car, alcohol-related automobile accident. He was 19, the passenger, wearing a safety belt.

She was 15, the little sister, wearing a heavy burden.

Robbie’s death played on Andrea’s mind and she carried it on to the field.

“I couldn’t get my game back together after that,” she said. “I couldn’t hit the ball, I couldn’t field the ball. We (the Orange County Batbusters) lost regionals and didn’t go to nationals, and I made the last out of the last game. That’s when I thought I would quit. I was at my lowest point.”

But it wasn’t the point of no return. Instead, it was the point of ascension.

“All I wanted to do was give up on everything, and my mom (Beth) reminded me of how proud Robbie was of my ability to play softball,” Doty recalled. “I decided from that moment on, I didn’t care if we won or lost or how much playing time I got, I would just give 110%. And if I wasn’t playing, I would keep my head in the game and help my teammates any way I could.”

With the new outlook came less pressure. Play for fun, she kept telling herself. And she did.

She has had a rags-to-riches career.

--She batted .400 during five years with the Batbusters, one of the nation’s top club teams.

--She played high school ball at Westminster, where victories were sparse.

--Last spring, as a freshman, she was the starting right fielder for NCAA champion Arizona, which won 64 of 67 games, including its first 31.

It was Doty’s shoestring catch of a sinking line drive against UCLA in the semifinals--and her throw to first base to double up the runner--that took the wind out of the Bruins in a tie game and helped Arizona to a 5-2 victory.

“On a scale of 10,” Arizona Coach Mike Candrea said of the play, “it was a strong eight.”

If the ball had gotten past Doty, UCLA probably would have scored twice.

“Everyone wants to play offense, but one of our weak links was that we needed a solid outfielder who could give us a solid effort,” Candrea said. “She’s not fancy, she doesn’t have the strongest arm, but she’s a very strong outfielder who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”

Doty made no errors in 49 games. She had only 20 at-bats, finishing at .200, but her offense wasn’t needed; Arizona set 13 NCAA offensive records, including highest single-season team batting average (.380), most home runs (93), runs (527), hits (701), total bases (1,112), runs batted in (478) and first-team All-Americans (six; the previous record was three).

Doty, who bats and throws left-handed, was the designated player in most games.

“At first it was really hard because I’m used to batting for myself, but I struggled early, and I figured it was best for the team,” Doty said. “Everyone has their part on the team, and I figured my part was to play outfield to the best of my ability.

“There was a senior, Valerie Zepeda, on the team that I roomed with on the road trips--she didn’t play a lot--and we would talk about things like playing time. She helped me understand what it was like to play as a team, that everyone has their part.”

The differences between her high school, club and college careers were as distinct as black and white.

She was used to winning during her travel ball seasons with the Batbusters. The summer before her freshman year in high school, they finished second in nationals; before her junior year, they finished second; before her senior year, they finished first; before she went off to college, they finished second.

But playing at Westminster was different. There was no coaching continuity--Doty played for four coaches in four years--and Doty admittedly lacked respect for her last coach, Gretchen Bock. By all accounts, theirs was a stormy relationship.

“She’s very set in her ways and competitive, and her frustration played a large role in the attitude she took, but I’ve got 15 other players to deal with,” Bock said. “She was a very individual player. She was not a team player, in my opinion.”

They couldn’t even agree whether Doty had been kicked off the team her senior season. Doty claimed she was, Bock said she wasn’t. Candrea, when he heard the story, was astonished.

“It surprises me after being around her for a year,” Candrea said, “because she had nothing but a very good attitude for us at Arizona.”

Doty, though, considered her days at Westminster and reflected upon all she had been through--the good and the bad.

“Softball,” she said, “isn’t my whole life.”