North Penn’s Julia Shearer named 2022-23 Gatorade Pa. Softball Player of the Year

When North Penn senior Julia Shearer finished her Advanced Placement Statistics final Friday morning, she checked her phone and knew something happened. She had missed calls and an inbox full of missed messages that started with “Congratulations.”

Gatorade announced Friday that Shearer is the 2022-23 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year.

“It just feels great because I have such a great support system with my family and my coaches and my teammates,” Shearer, who earned the award for a second straight season, said. “Everyone is there for me and they’re supporting me every step of the way.

“Last year I didn’t really have any goals as far as Gatorade, it just kind of happened. This year I figured out what I was capable of. I knew what I was going for. Me and coach (Rick) Torresani’s goal from the start was get Gatorade and have an undefeated season. We’re still working on the undefeated season, but this year since we are so close to winning a state championship again – I feel like being that kind of leader for my team is so important, especially right now.”

The University of Maryland commit has been dominant in the circle and at the plate all season long. She entered Thursday’s PIAA-6A state quarterfinal – an 18-0 win over Hazleton – with a 25-0 record and 0.23 ERA in 153 innings. She struck out 323 batters to 13 walks. She batted .645 with 10 home runs, 49 runs scored, 30 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, a .710 on-base percentage and 1.171 slugging percentage.

Those numbers will only improve after her performance in the Knights win over Hazleton. In five shut-out innings she struck out eight batters and allowed just two hits. At the plate she had four RBIs on a two-run home run and a two-run double.

“She hit 11 home runs this year,” North Penn coach Rick Torresani, who credited Shearer for being a team-first player, said. “She’s 18-for-18 in stolen bases. A double to her is a triple, a single to her is a double. You can see right off the bat as soon as she hits the ball she knows exactly where it’s going and where she can get to… She can bunt, she can slap-hit and she can obviously hit for power and in the gaps. They say five-tool, I think she’s six-tool because you add the pitching in there and the power and the speed and the arm strength. There’s a lot of people that have never seen her play center field. She’s the best centerfielder I’ve ever had because she covers ground in that outfield – it’s amazing she can see the ball off the bat very well. Maryland is very lucky because I don’t think they’ll give her a game off when she’s not pitching. She’ll be in the outfield.

“Julia is probably the finest hitter that I’ve ever coached. She’s just the best player in 30 years of coaching I’ve coached or seen play the game. She does everything well.”

“I don’t really care about the stats,” Shearer added. “They’re what gets me the awards and the recognition and stuff, but honestly if I can produce at the right time – that’s all the really matters.”

She’s clearly dominated in the circle all season long, leading the Knights to a 26-0 record heading into the final week of the season, but she’s been even stronger in the postseason. In four District 1 and two state playoff games, the 5-foot-8 lefty is 6-0 with three runs allowed – two earned – in 39 innings. She’s got 78 strikeouts while allowing eight hits.

In a 10-inning win over Plymouth Whitemarsh in the District 1 semifinals, she retired 20 straight batters from the fourth inning until the end of the game. In the championship game against Haverford, she threw a perfect game with 16 strikeouts. She allowed one hit in the first round of states against Governor Mifflin before limiting Hazleton to two hits. That’s three hits over her last 25 2/3 innings pitched against some of the best teams in the state.

“I don’t know how this is happening to be honest,” Shearer said, “but I feel like as we get later and later into playoffs, I feel like I’m getting more and more locked in. When I’m out there, I’m laser-focused. I’m not looking at the crowd, I’m not looking at my teammates or my other coaches. It’s between me, coach Torresani and (catcher) Sarah (Sabocsik) and I think these last few weeks my pitching has outperformed my hitting, but that’s what we need to win games. Good pitching wins game.”

“(The last four games are) incredible,” Torresani said, “but if you look at the entire season she’s given up five earned runs in 26 games. I’ve never, ever heard of that. We’ve had games where people never reach second base. I just looked at this stat last night – our outfielders for the whole season they’ve had 11 total chances. That’s just crazy. There’s been games where the ball doesn’t even go into the outfield.”

The award, per the press release announcing Shearer’s selection, recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. Shearer has maintained a 3.85 GPA in the classroom and volunteered locally as part of a fundraising campaign to benefit pediatric cancer research. She has also donated her time with Almost Home Dog Rescue and as a youth softball coach.

When Shearer received the honor last year, she entered the state playoffs with a 23-1 record and 0.30 ERA. She had 267 strikeouts to 18 walks over 140 innings. She hit .603 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. The Knights reached the state semifinals.

This is the third straight season a North Penn pitcher was named the Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year. Mady Volpe earned the honors as a senior in 2020-21.

“They’re two of the hardest-working players I’ve ever had,” Torresani said. “In order to do what they did, they had to work hard.”