Westmoreland softball notebook: Latrobe’s Tallman sisters flying high

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 6:18 PM

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The Tallman sisters, Jordan and Jenna, hope to take the Latrobe softball team to new heights this season, their last together as high school teammates.

But they have been reaching for the sky for some time now — several months, in fact — as they seek to become certified pilots.

Living and going to school near Arnold Palmer Regional Airport might be more coincidental than anything for the Tallmans, who want to follow in their father Dan’s footsteps. He is a professional pilot.

The girls have flown numerous times already, working to better their takeoffs and landings on the runway at the Palmer airport while racking up flight hours.

“With my dad flying, I just fell in love with it,” said Jordan Tallman, the hard-throwing ace pitcher for the Wildcats. “I am about a month away from getting my license.”

The girls could be on pace to take their pilot’s exams before the summer, or thereafter. The family owns its own jet.

Jordan likely won’t fly for a living. She plans to get into pre-med at Georgetown, where she also will continue her softball career.

The Tallman sisters might co-pilot a plane together one day; don’t put it past them. For now, though, they are the battery for the Wildcats with Jenna serving as a junior catcher.

Jenna caught Jordan’s 18-strikeout no-hitter against Connellsville.

“I never thought we’d see that,” Jordan said of the battery combination. “I always thought Jenna would be a pitcher before a catcher. She hasn’t caught since she was 10.”

Jordan Tallman encountered a wrist injury after taking a line drive to to her throwing hand against Penn-Trafford, but this is not the first time she has bounced back from injury. She recovered from a knee injury that cost her eight games as a sophomore. She still struck out 142 that year to finish among the WPIAL leaders who played more games.

Asked if teammates want to go for airplane rides with her and Jenna, Jordan said, “At least one person asks me every day. I’m like, guys, I don’t have a 737.”

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Griffin dealing

Ligonier Valley junior pitcher Maddie Griffin continues to put up impressive numbers in her first season in the WPIAL. The ace right-hander tossed a perfect game Monday as the WPIAL 2A No. 1 Rams blanked Apollo-Ridge, 8-0. She struck out 16.

She now has six no-hitters this season.

Griffin is 7-1 and has allowed just 10 hits and four earned runs in 56 2/3 innings for the Rams. She has 131 strikeouts and 14 walks.

The Rams finally lost when Mt. Pleasant clipped them, 3-1, at Donaldson Field. The loss broke their 15-game winning streak at home.

Griffin still managed 18 strikeouts.

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State ranks

Two local teams are situated in the TribLive HSSN state rankings. Southmoreland, which is stretching out after a covid shutdown, is No. 3 in Class 3A.

Ligonier Valley, meanwhile, checks in at No. 5 in 2A.

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

Tags: Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Southmoreland