Girls athlete of the week

// The Post-Gazette’s top female performer from the past seven days

The past week: Tallman belted two home runs in Latrobe’s 100 win March 28 against Armstrong, then took the mound two days later against CanonMcMillan and tossed a complete game with 12 strikeouts in a 9-3 win. Check this out: Tallman, a 5foot-6 sophomore, has a 3-0 record four games into the season with a 1.00 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in just 14 innings pitched. What was it like last year getting so close to a WPIAL championship only to lose in

the final? Hempfield has always been one of those teams that’s always going to be there, they’re always going to be that challenge, so getting that close, it was actually really cool. It definitely pushed us all to work even harder in the offseason to make sure we could actually get there instead of just falling short. Do you think this year’s team has a chance to knock off Hempfield? Absolutely … we definitely have a strong offense this year, and we actually have a pretty young team. We’ve got some freshmen, including my little sister [third baseman Jenna Tallman], which is really cool to have a young team doing so well against these teams in our section. What is it like playing with your little sister? It’s actually really cool, I really enjoy it. I never played with her before. I know she always has my back, and I always have hers. What made you decide to start playing softball? I can actually vividly remember bringing home a flyer from school and my mom just looking at me and

saying, ‘Absolutely not.’ She definitely did not want me to be a softball player. Do you think she realizes she made the right decision letting you play now? Absolutely. She loves softball just as much as I do.

Does she go to all of your games? Yeah. I don’t think she’s ever missed one.

Do you have any game-day superstitions? Oh, absolutely. I have to have my hair braided a certain way. I have a certain pair of sliders I wear underneath my pants that I wear for school and

travel. I think pitchers are superstitious. I have a very specific routine when I’m warming up. What is one prized possession

you can’t live without? I don’t know if I have a lot of prized possessions, but something I definitely cannot live without is my dog. What kind of dog? He’s a Bernese Mountain Dog. He’s my baby.

What’s his name? Charlie. How old is he? He’s 1. I think he’s like 120 pounds now. He’s a big sweetheart.

Jordan Tallman Latrobe softball