So far, so good.

That was the attitude following Forest Grove’s opening round playoff game with Grants Pass, one which ended with the Vikings toppling the Cavemen 10-0 in five innings on Monday evening, May 26, at Forest Grove High School.

Forest Grove head coach Jeremy Ingram was pleased with his team’s performance overall, and said that they came with the approach necessary for them to have success.

“We played loose today,” Ingram said. “The girls came out swinging the bats really well early. Cali (Davis) got us started with a home run in the first inning, then it kept going from there.

“It was a stress-free win, but that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re the higher seed.”

Davis’ homer put the Vikings on top 2-0 in the bottom half of the first inning, and that was just the beginning.

Forest Grove scored five more runs in the second inning, two of which came on a Daniela Rodriguez home run, then plated three more in the fourth, the last two of which came on a Kenley Wright triple that scored Jaylynn Hinton and Gracee Evans.

From there it was up to Vikings pitcher Kherington Wright to put Grants Pass down in the top of the fifth to finish things off, which she did. Similarly to what she’d done for the bulk of the game.

Wright allowed no hits over her five innings pitched, while striking out nine and walking none.

Ingram said his team’s early runs were beneficial to Wright who does her best work with a lead, but Davis said that whether they have a lead or not, she’s confident in her team’s standout hurler.

“I think it (a lead) helps, but she battles no matter what,” Davis said about Wright. “But I do think coming out hot in the first few innings lets her kind of do what she does without having to worry or put pressure on herself.”

Despite an impressive second half of the season, Forest Grove sputtered a bit to the regular season finish line, dropping their final two games to Glencoe and West Salem. Those losses might’ve been problematic for some teams entering the postseason, but not for the Vikes who Davis said were mostly unfazed by how things played out over the past week.

“I think our team does a pretty good job of letting those things go,” the first baseman said. “I feel like every game we come to, it’s a brand new game. Which is really good, especially coming into the playoffs.”

Ingram agreed with Davis and said he was comfortable with his team despite the sour end to the regular season slate.

“I knew the Glencoe game was going to be tough,” the coach said. “We lost 1-0 in a tough ball game then had to turn around the very next day and head down to Salem. I kind of knew that was going to be hard for us to get up for that game, and it showed. But we had a few good practices after that and shook it off pretty quick.”

In all, seven Vikings got hits in the game, including Davis, Evans, Rodriguez, Kenley Wright, Kailea Takahashi, and Paola Reyes Figueroa who finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored.

Those hits were evidence of what was a well-rounded attack, and one that Davis said stemmed from a belief in themselves.

“I always have nerves when it’s a big game like this because I put a lot on myself, but I think we’re all a little like that,” she said. “But once we got going and were feeling it, I think we’re confident in ourselves because we knew we were going to come out and do what we did.”

No. 10-seeded Forest Grove is scheduled to play at No. 7-seeded Roseburg in the playoffs’ second round on May 28.

6A Playoffs First Round Scores

Forest Grove 10, Grants Pass 0

Roseburg 4, Sandy 0

Jesuit 17, Sprague 0

Sherwood 15, Cleveland 1

North Medford 9, Century 2

McMinnville 5, Westview 0

Tualatin 7, Glencoe 1

Sunset 13, Grant 0

Barlow 13, Roosevelt 2

West Salem 11, Lake Oswego 1

Southridge 5, South Medford 1

Oregon City 2, Mountainside 0

Tigard 5, Sheldon 0

McNary 2, Central Catholic 1

West Linn 18, Nelson 5

Aloha 6, Gresham 3