In softball, if you’ve got a good pitcher in the circle, you’ve always got a chance. It’s a proposition that the Annville-Cleona softball team has lived on over the years, one that the Little Dutchmen have built a program on.

Kaila Grubb is a good pitcher.

This week, Grubb helped Annville-Cleona get off to a good start, in what has been a cold spring season, with her arm – and her bat.

On Thursday after school, Grubb pitched the Little Dutchmen to a 9-4 victory over Lancaster Catholic. She went the distance on an eight-hitter, fanned nine and didn’t issue a free pass.

In her support, Grubb’s Little Dutchmen teammates scored two runs in the top of the fourth, then pieced together a decisive six-run rally in the fifth.

A day later, in Annville-Cleona’s home opener, Grubb contributed to an 11-6 triumph over Lancaster Mennonite with her speed and stick. She was a disruptive terror on the base paths and also added an RBI.

If Annville-Cleona is to contend for a Lancaster-Lebanon Section Four championship and a berth in the District Three postseason this spring, it will be Grubb who must show the way.

– Jeff Falk