North Penn junior Julia Shearer was named 2021-22 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year. Cover slide photos courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. (Thursday's game action shots courtesy of Marlee Doherty/NP softball)
It’s official.
Julia Shearer’s selection as the 2021-22 Gatorade PA Softball Player of the Year confirmed what many of those who faced her would undoubtedly attest – the North Penn junior is the state’s best high school softball player.
The award – won by teammate Mady Volpe last year - recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.
Last year, Shearer earned first team all-state honors as an outfielder, and the University of Maryland commit is ranked No. 33 in the Class of 2023 Extra Elite 100 by Extra Innings Softball.
Shearer received word that she’d won the honor as she was ready to leave for North Penn’s PIAA 6A quarterfinal games against District 4 champion Williamsport.
“It felt great – I was so thankful,” she said. “I just ran over to my coach and gave him a big hug as soon as I found out. It made me want to go out there today and prove myself.”
A good day got even better when Shearer got to Ralston Sports Complex and effectively silenced a Millionaires squad that had defeated defending state runner-up Haverford 7-1 in Monday’s opening round.
“There were some chattering fans that kind of ticked me off, but that just played into how I wanted to pitch,” Shearer said. “I just wanted to go out there and throw my stuff. I wasn’t letting anyone get in my head, and it kind of fired me up.”
A fired-up Shearer was bad news for the Millionaires, who went down in order the first three innings – seven of the nine batters retired by strikeouts. They managed only one hit - an infield single by Audri Blair to lead off the fourth inning. Blair advanced all the way to third, thanks to a bunt and groundout, but Shearer struck out cleanup batter Ally Chilson to end that threat.
“I was not going to throw a hitter’s pitch at all,” Shearer said. “If I walked them, I walked them. I feel confident that if I go up there – I have great defense behind me.
For the game, Shearer struck out 11 and walked one in the one-hit, six-inning shutout. She certainly made a believer out of Williamsport coach Chase Smith, who had high praise for the North Penn junior in an article by Tim Robinson in the Williamsport-Sun Gazette.
“We knew she was tough,” Smith said after Thursday’s game. “We just wanted to see it in person. She’s tough. You look at her stats and she’s phenomenal, but you never know. She’s everything her stats said she was. That’s the best we’ve seen for sure.”
Shearer also was an all-but-impossible out at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, home run, run scored and one RBI.
“I’ve just been seeing the ball lately,” Shearer said. “I’m going up there trying to get on base. It’s my job as a leadoff hitter.”
Shearer is 25-1 on the season with 291 strikeouts and only 19 walks in 153 innings. She has allowed just six earned runs. Prior to Thursday’s shutout, she boasted a miniscule 0.29 earned run
average. The junior leadoff batter is hitting .609 (50-for-82) with six doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 25 RBIs.
“What more can we say about her other than – she does everything all the time,” North Penn coach Rick Torresani said. “The greatest player I’ve ever coached. She’s a six-tool player – she does everything and pitches.
“You look at the strikeouts compared to the walks – it’s unbelievable. The number of times she runs the bases and hits and then goes out and pitches – from the first pitch in the first inning to the last pitch in the last inning, you can’t tell the difference. That’s because she worked really hard in the offseason to get where she wants to go. She’s unbelievable.”
Shearer is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced in June.
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