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Auburn Mountainview senior Delene Colburn has signed a softball scholarship with the University of Montana.

Colburn, a 5-foot-6 infielder and pitcher, is one of six players Montana softball coach Jamie Pinkerton signed last week to a national letter of intent. Colburn and her five future teammates are initial group of players to commit to the Grizzlies’ softball program.

The Grizzlies play their inaugural season in 2014-15.

“She’ll be a middle-of-the-order hitter,” Pinkerton told gogriz.com. “The three or four games I got to see her play, she really drove the ball.

“Also she pitches for her high school. I don’t know that she wants to pitch collegiately, but she said that she would that first year if we need some pitching depth. And that really drew me to her,” Pinkerton said. “She grasps the team concept and wants to do what’s best for her team.”

Colburn made the All-South Puget Sound League first team as a utility player as a freshman, as a pitcher as a sophomore and as an infielder as a junior. She led the Lions to the Class 3A state tournament last spring. She was the team’s Big Bat Award winner in 2012 and ’13.

“The opportunity to be part of the first softball program at the University of Montana is important to me,” Colburn told gogriz.com. “Softball is a passion of mine, and I want to share that love of the game with others. … I want to be part of giving back to the sport I love. This is important to me.”

On the pitch, Colburn is a three-year soccer letter winner and a second-team All-SPSL forward.

Also signing with the Grizzlies were: middle infielder Tori Lettus of Bothell; first baseman Ashlyn Lyons of Walla Walla; second baseman/outfielder Gabby Martinez of Redlands, Calif.; centerfielder MaKenna McGill of Claremore, Okla.; and Carli Riordan, a right-handed pitcher from Spokane Valley.