Jordan Jennings’ historic softball season with MaST Community Charter helped ‘find her voice’

There’s a cul-de-sac near Bensalem that’s filled with neighbors who likely know more about area high school softball than they thought possible.

That’s because Lisa Goehringer doubles as an unofficial publicist, walking her youngest grandchild in a stroller while monitoring a mobile application that chronicles the exploits of her eldest, Jordan Jennings, a record-setting do-it-all junior for MaST Community Charter.

“The neighbors know when I’m on [the app],” Goehringer said, laughing. “They say, ‘Oh, she must be watching Jordan …'”

Jennings, 17, has already provided a lot of material.

This season, the shortstop and pitcher set records for the most RBIs in a season and most hits in school history, led the state in doubles, and notched her 200th career strikeout.

She earned all-state honors last year and likely will do so again this season. She was also recently named to the Suburban One/Bicentennial team for the prestigious Carpenter Cup.

“She is all-around the kind of girl you can rely on,” said MaST coach Angel Conley. “No matter what I asked her to do, she’d do in a heartbeat. … She was a big-time leader this year.”

While Jennings certainly excels on the field, perhaps just as intriguing is how hard she works off it in addition to her family history in softball and baseball.

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Jennings is a straight-A student who is also taking community college business courses, which means she will receive an associate’s degree when she graduates from high school next year.

“Everything she’s already done tells me she’s driven to accomplish her goals,” Goehringer said. “It tells me that she will accomplish anything she sets out to do.”

Jennings got started in softball after deciding tap dance and soccer weren’t for her. Besides, “baseball was kind of like a family thing,” she said.

Her father, Phillip, said she has always excelled. At around 8 years old, Jennings was one of the only players whose arm strength could make her throws reach first base.

By the time she reached high school, Jennings was a standout player, but still wanted to develop as a leader.

“Outside of softball, I’m quiet and I don’t speak my mind very much,” she said. “But I’ve found more of a voice.”

That has helped this season after injuries and illnesses ravaged the team. MaST won the District 1 Class 3A crown the last two seasons, but missing five players this postseason, Conley said, contributed to a lopsided playoff loss to New Hope Solebury on May 21.

All season, Conley added, she consulted with Jennings about lineups, positions, pitchers, etc. Jennings, a team captain, has even occasionally run drills at practice when Conley was running late.

“Leadership,” Conley said, “just comes naturally to her.”

Perhaps the sport also comes naturally because it runs deep in Jennings’ family.

Her great-grandmother, Gladys Goehringer (née Heiken), who is 89, played softball at Penn, where she was captain of the team as a junior.

Her great-grandfather, Bob Schlemback, played basketball at Northeast High with Guy Rodgers and played against Overbrook’s Wilt Chamberlain. Schlemback also played minor league baseball.

Jennings’ grandmother also coached softball and baseball for 30 years. Perhaps that’s why she also marvels at her granddaughter’s hard work.

“Although softball is a part of Jordan,” Goehringer said, “overall, I am extremely proud of the person she is. I’m envious of her time-management skills. She just got her grades and once again, straight A’s. Her math ability does not come from our side of the family, I can tell you that.”

College coaches have taken notice. Jennings, who is an only child, has a few offers and interest from Division I, II, and III schools.

She seems more concerned, however, with which school and program will be the best fit.

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Jennings also could be inspiring the next generation of softball and baseball standouts: her cousins Amelia, 10, and Zachariah, 8.

“I’m really thankful for my parents, my coaches, and my family for all they’ve done for me,” Jennings said. “I wouldn’t be the player I am without them.”