North Penn senior Julia Shearer was named the 2023 Gatorade PA Softball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. (Photo courtesy of Kadi Schenk: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f983803863 )
North Penn senior Julia Shearer was named the 2022-23 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year. It is the second consecutive year she has won the award, and it is the third straight year a North Penn player has received this recognition. Mady Volpe was the 2020-21 Gatorade PA Softball Player of the Year. Ranked as the nation’s No. 21 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Inning Softball, Shearer has led the Knights to the PIAA 6A state semifinals.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Shearer as Pennsylvania’s best high school softball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced in June,
2023 by the numbers (through 26 games): Shearer is 26-0 with an ERA of 0.23 entering the state semifinals. In 151 innings, she has struck outs 331 and walked 13 while allowing 43 hits and five earned runs. The Knights’ leadoff batter is hitting at a .638 clip (51-for-80) with 52 runs scored and 34 RBIs. She has nine doubles, one triple and 11 home runs and has received 18 walks. Shearer boasts a .704 on-base percentage, a 1.187 slugging percentage and a 1.892 OPS. She has stolen 18 bases in 18 attempts.
Off the diamond: Shearer has volunteered locally as part of a fundraising campaign to benefit pediatric cancer research. She has also donated her time with Almost Home Dog Rescue, which saves homeless dogs, and as a youth softball coach. Shearer has maintained a 3.85 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a national letter of intent to play softball on scholarship at the University of Maryland this fall.
Coach Rick Torresani says: “This kid is amazing. The outfield has 11 total chances in 26 games, and the simplicity of the whole thing is we went through the whole season without realizing that and how well she’s done. It’s unbelievable.
“To sit back and watch her hit – I’ve seen it at the collegiate level and on TV, but to actually see it live - when the kid hits the ball, she knows where she hits it, and she knows how far she can go. If she hits it in a gap, it’s a double. If it’s in the gap and it rolls somewhere, it’s a triple. I don’t have to do anything but watch and admire at third base because she knows the game so well. She knows when it’s off the bat exactly where it’s going and how far it’s going. She’s just an unbelievable talent that has so many sound fundamental aspects of her game. It’s just truly amazing.
“Mady Volpe won this award two years ago, and she is a different pitcher than Julia, but the thing that brings them both together is how hard they work, going to Relentless (Athletics) throughout the winter and having the same pitching coach. To see the two different styles of pitchers they are, and they both produced some great, great wins and stats and accomplished so much for North Penn.”
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