North Penn High School Student Named 2022-23 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year
North Penn High School (NPHS) student Julia Shearer has been named the 2022-23 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year. This is the second time Shearer has been named Player of the Year, and the third year in a row a NPHS student has been named.
The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. Shearer has led the NPHS softball team to a 25-0 record at the time of selection and a 0.23 ERA entering the postseason round of eight. She struck out 323 batters while walking just 13 in 153 innings. Ranked as the nation’s No. 21 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Inning Softball, Shearer batted .645 with 10 home runs, 49 runs scored, and 30 RBI. She swiped 18 bases and compiled a .710 on-base percentage and a 1.171 slugging percentage.
Shearer has maintained a 3.85 GPA in the classroom, and has signed a national letter of intent to play softball on scholarship at the University of Maryland this fall. Outside of academics, Shearer volunteers with Almost Home Dog Rescue, as a youth softball coach, and works on a local fundraising campaign to benefit pediatric cancer research.
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 and field. The program awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media, and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport. To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, please visit https://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/.