Sisters Tannon and Taylon Snow have continued to both hit for more than a .500 average during the current high school season. Tannon (a junior) and Taylon (a freshman) have also both committed to the University of Washington. Photo: Snow family.
Tannon and Taylon Snow have been swinging hot bats for Chino Hills all season and already have more than 100 combined hits heading into the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. They’ll be playing together in college as well when they eventually both wind up on the roster at Washington.
Attention young athletes: To check out info and to sign up for the first-ever Cal-Hi Sports/Gold Medal Excellence All-Sports Speed Camp and All-State Football Combine, CLICK HERE for June 14 event in Tracy or CLICK HERE for June 22 event in Bakersfield.
To read our breakdowns on each State Top 20 team, why some rankings moves were made, which teams are on the bubble and for state record listings, you need to be a member of our Gold Club. It’s a great deal at less than $2 per month. Join our team today by CLICKING HERE.
Way up in San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles in the Inland Empire north of Chino Hills, snow covers some of the peaks almost year-round and certainly through spring.
However, in the southeastern corner of San Bernardino County at Chino Hills High, the only snow on the ground right now is on the softball field where the Snow sisters, junior shortstop Tannon Snow and her little sister, freshman centerfielder Taylon Snow, are currently tearing it up as a hitting combination.
After a 9-6 loss to Ayala of Chino Hills on Friday (a game after the Huskies had already clinched the Sierra League title), Tannon and Taylon have continued to rake both with averages well over .500.
In the team’s win earlier this week against Charter Oak, Tannon went 4-for-5 with a double, a homer and four RBI. She enters the playoffs with a .596 average with 53 hits, 12 homers and 53 RBI. Her single-season home run and RBI totals already are good enough to get her into the Cal-Hi Sports state record book.
For Taylon, she may be just a freshman but her 57 hits so far for the season also is strong enough to get her name into the state book. She went 3-for-3 against Ayala to raise her batting average to .564. She also has five homers with 22 RBI and 34 runs scored.
“It’s hard to imagine two sisters with combined stats like they have, and we don’t play a soft schedule,” said Chino Hills head coach Mike Southworth.
Big sis does the driving and most of the talking too
As is the case with a lot of sisters, the older sister is the more outgoing and talkative of the two. Plus, except in the rarest of cases, the older sister gets her driver’s license first, and the Snow sisters are no different in either instance.
Also, like many sisters that share a common sport or other interest, Tannon and Taylon do a lot of things together.
“We’ve always done a lot of things together, but now that I’m driving we do everything together,” Tannon told Cal-Hi Sports.
“We both played soccer when we were little,” remarked Taylon about the only other sport they’ve played besides softball.
Do the Snow sisters like snow sports? 
“We have the same hobbies, camping, going to the river, fishing and hiking, but we’ve never skied or snowboarded,” Tannon said. “Occasionally we go up to the mountains but we just play in the snow, no sports.”
From beginnings to travel ball to high school
Tannon started playing softball at age five and Taylon watched her and got interested. When Taylon turned five, she started playing as well.
This is the first year they’re playing together at Chino Hills but last summer they played on the same perennially outstanding OC Batbusters 18U travel ball team.
What about sibling rivalry?
“We don’t have any rivalries but we help each other a lot,” Tannon said.
“A lot,” echoed Taylon.
Family affair
Softball and baseball are part of the fabric of the Snow family.
The girls’ father, Craig Snow, a concrete cutting contractor, played baseball and football, and even boxed at Fullerton High. Their mother, Trista Snow, played softball at Fullerton.
The biggest sister, Talee Snow, was a star for Huskies’ coach Southworth before earning a scholarship to UCLA where a medical condition ended the current senior’s softball career, but she’ll be graduating soon.
There’s even a distant cousin relation to former Major League star J.T. Snow in the family.
Student-Athletes
The sisters aren’t just excellent on the softball field, but in the classroom as well.
Not surprisingly, they do just about everything the same there too.
Being a freshman, Taylon is a little young to decide what she wants to study in college or what kind of career she’s looking at, but she knows one thing, and that is she’s following her sister to the next level since she and Tannon are both committed to Washington.
Both sisters carry a 3.6 GPA and both say math is their favorite subject.
Unlike her little sister, Tannon has some ideas about a career.
“I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, so hopefully I can balance courses on that route with my softball.”
It’s all about the Chino Hills Huskies team
The Snow sisters have had a lot of success so far this season, but when asked for personal goals to go along with team goals, it was all about the team.
“Sure, I’d like to break some of my records but for the most part the team goals are our personal goals,” Tannon responded for herself and her sister.
Chino Hills just won its fourth straight Sierra League title, the last three with Tannon. The team also won the school’s only CIF Southern Section championship when it captured the Division III title two years ago when Tannon was a freshman.
After being moved to Division II last season, the Huskies made it to the quarterfinals before falling 2-0 to eventual runner-up Lakewood.
Having had a taste of a title, Tannon would like to get one again, and for her sister and other teammates as well.
“The goal is to win league again, and then hopefully we can get a CIF (Southern Section) championship like we did in my freshman season,” Tannon said.
The Snows are far from by themselves in their quest. In fact, veteran Inland Empire multi-sport coach Southworth has a pretty loaded squad.
“Tannon and Talon are a major part of it, but we have a lot of very talented kids that are having some great at-bats,” said Southworth, who is in his sixth year at Chino Hills after nine years at Fontana. Prior to that, he won a CIF Southern Section title in 20 years of coaching boys basketball.
A lot of the current success that has the Huskies at 24-5 overall (7-1 in league) and No. 10 in this week’s state rankings comes from the fact that many of the girls play with each other over the summer. Plus, the team competed very well in early season tournaments.
At the Bullhead (Arizona) tournament, Chino Hills went 4-1 and won its fist three games before a 1-0 loss to No. 4 ranked Garden Grove Pacifica. The Huskies went 4-1 at the Michelle Carew Classic as well. They lost their first game to previously state-ranked Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) before winning the next four.
“This year we have a very strong team and we’re jelling at the right time,” Tannon said.
Very strong translates into 11 girls with Division I offers, including five already committed.
Along with Tannon and Taylon, senior pitcher Patricia Parks is bound for Arizona. Senior third-sacker Alyssa Mendez was the league’s MVP last season and a first team All CIFSS D2 selection. She’s committed to Nevada. Senior second-base girl Shianne Brannon is a two-time all league selection headed to Cal State Fullerton.
Other girls with offers are junior catcher Kylie Michael (Fordham), junior Savanna Corr (Sacramento State), junior Brittney Garcia (UC Riverside), junior Brianna Viles (De Paul), junior Melissa Garcia (Massachusetts), and freshman Alyssa Card, who already has an offer from Texas.
From the looks of it, Southworth and his Huskies look loaded for next season as well, with the Snow duo having another year together before Tannon heads off to Washington. .
“”I’ve always wanted to play with Tannon. Now, I get two years with her in high school and then we get to continue on in college,” Taylon remarked.
Advice for young girls
Playing softball is fun but the solid work on the field also has to translate into hard work in the classroom.
“Keep working real hard and be competitive. Play with a desire to beat everyone every time you’re on the field,” Tannon said. “In class, study a lot and put the time into what you do – and ask for help when you need it.”
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
