Hempfield to face state’s most dominant ace: North Penn lefty Julia Shearer

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 | 3:07 PM

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A forbidding challenge awaits Hempfield with unbeaten North Penn (27-0), the District 1 champion that features senior ace pitcher Julia Shearer and her ridiculous numbers: 27-0 record, 0.23 ERA, 346 strikeouts and 13 walks in 159 innings.

Hempfield (21-3) likely will have to scrape together offense against the left-hander, who has committed to Maryland, if it wants to win a fifth PIAA softball championship.

A two-time Pennsylvania Gatorade Softball Player of the Year, Shearer has thrown 21 shutouts and has surrendered just five earned runs. She struck out 15 on Tuesday in a 1-0 win over Chambersburg in the semifinals.

Shearer also presents a new issue for the Spartans: She is a left-hander.

“We know what she brings. It’s going to be a challenge,” Hempfield coach Tina Madison said. “We haven’t seen a lefty all year. We’ll have to adjust. If she throws a drop-curve, it won’t be down and out, it will be in and down.”

The Spartans have faced a power pitcher with similar clout three times this season in Seneca Valley sophomore Lexie Hames, winning two of three against her.

“Eleven of our 21 wins are against studs,” Madison said. “Seneca Valley, Norwin, North Allegheny, Armstrong. … Our girls are tested. I have a good feeling.”

Senior Mia Bandieramonte hit an eighth-inning homer off Hames as Hempfield squeezed out a 2-1 win in the WPIAL final.

“We hit Lexie, so that gives us confidence (against Shearer),” said Hempfield junior first baseman Emily Griffith, who hit a two-run home run against Cumberland Valley in a 6-1 semifinal win. “We know what to do.”

And that could mean firing up the pitching machine the team borrowed from freshman catcher Ella Berkebile and turning it to screaming missile mode.

“We’ll get it up in the 70s, I’m sure,” Berkebile said.

Shearer, who is a slight 5-foot-9, is known for her speed, power and command. She also bats over .600 and leads the Knights with 11 home runs. She bats leadoff.

North Penn won a state title with her in the circle in 2021.

Hempfield has faced an elite ace before at Penn State.

Longtime Spartans coach Bob Kalp’s advice for the Spartans as they face Shearer is simple: “Play flawless ‘D,’ scratch out a run and win a championship.”

Kalp said that’s what he told the 2016 Spartans, who faced Oregon commit Maddie Balint, another Gatorade State Player of the Year.

Hempfield won 1-0 in eight innings at Penn State.

“It can happen,” Kalp said, “but it won’t be easy.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Hempfield