TOWAMENCIN – Defensive domination; that’s been the storyline of the Knights’ undefeated season so far, and it continued on the diamond Thursday afternoon against Souderton. 

The Knights (18-0; 14-0) faced the Indians (9-9; 7-7) in a Colonial Division showdown with the postseason right around the corner. With their undefeated season still alive, North Penn came out and took care of business, defeating Souderton 7-0, and proving once again why they are one of the best teams in all of Pennsylvania. 

Back on the mound again for the Knights was Julia Shearer, who once again put the team on her back with a standout performance, striking out eight batters and keeping the Indians scoreless in her complete game shutout. 

“Souderton is a really good hitting team and the way we played against them was really good,” Shearer said. “It just helped my confidence to be able to pitch this way against such a good team.”

Following a scoreless first inning, the Knights were first to break open the scoring in the bottom of the second with a two out rally. Consecutive singles from Casey Sokol and Reyna Doherty set up runners on the corners. Batting next for North Penn was Julia Shearer, who knocked in the first run of the game with an RBI single. 

“If we score early, it puts a lot of pressure on the other team because of Julia and the way she pitches,” Knights’ head coach Richard Torresani explained. “They know that when she’s on she doesn’t give up a lot of runs, so we need to jump out on them and maybe their confidence will drop a little bit.”

The Knights went back to the field with a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, and after a 1, 2, 3 inning, the offense for North Penn went right back to work. 

Leading off in the bottom of the third for the Knights was Annabelle Smink, who shot a line drive into center field to begin what would be a strong inning for the Knights’ bats. After an error by the Indians, runners stood on second and third with only one out. North Penn then began to extend the lead, getting consecutive RBI singles from Sophia Orth, Bella Nunn, and Casey Sokol to go up 4-0. The Knights would drive in one more run in the inning on an RBI single from Julia Shearer to lead 5-0 after three innings. 

“Our confidence at the plate has grown tremendously,” Shearer said. “I think we’re all very optimistic about the next couple of weeks to come.”

The game remained 5-0 for the next two innings as both pitchers were in a good rhythm on the mound. Then in the sixth, after yet another strong inning from Shearer, the Knights’ offense tacked on a couple more runs. 

The Knights got a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, which brought up Sarah Sabocsik with nobody out. With the game seemingly in control for North Penn already, Sabocsik shot a ball over the wall in left-center field, putting the dagger in this game, giving the Knights a 7-0 advantage.

“I was just trying to stay within myself, find my pitch, and not do too much,” Sabocsik said. “I was just trying to contribute to the team and get a good hit.”

Carrying a significant lead into the seventh, the Knights’ defense took the field one last time, shutting down Souderton’s offense once again and capturing the win. 

Following the Knights’ impressive victory,  Torresani commented on his team’s performance this afternoon. 

“We went into this game with the attitude of ‘if there’s a girl on base let’s move her, let’s play good defense, and that’s what we did,”  Torresani shared. “That’s what this team can do.”

With the postseason right around the corner, Torresani is optimistic about his team and where they stand at the moment. 

“They’re playoff ready,” Torresani said. “We just need to win the last two games, take a week off, and then let’s go.”

Looking to continue their undefeated season, the Knights will now prepare for a home game against the Central Bucks South Titans on Monday at 3:45.