Heading into the playoffs, the scouting report on St. Aloysius was that it would be a dangerous No. 3 seed.

After three games, the Lady Flashes aren’t doing anything to change that. They’re starting to look like a cross between a bunch of rabid wolverines and a great white shark.

Grace Upshaw doubled, tripled and drove in three runs, Stephanie Schoonover struck out seven in a complete game, and the Lady Flashes hammered Salem 10-2 in Game 1 of their second-round Class 1A series at Bazinsky Park.

St. Al can close out the series by winning Game 2 today at 4 p.m. at Salem. If Salem wins, they’ll play a deciding Game 3 immediately afterward.

“That was really good for us,” St. Al coach Candice Reeder said of winning Game 1 in convincing fashion. “Yet again, the girls have proved to themselves that when their hitting is on we can do what we did tonight to anybody.”

Salem (15-7) won the Division 8-1A championship while St. Al finished third in Division 7-1A. From the start on Monday, however, it looked like those roles were flipped.

After a scoreless first inning, St. Al put five runs on the board in the bottom of the second and never trailed again.

Jordan McDonald had a two-run single and Upshaw an RBI triple to key the rally.

Salem scored twice in the fourth inning, but St. Al answered with three in the fifth to stay comfortably ahead.

Upshaw scored on a triple by Michelle Howington.

For the game, St. Al had 10 hits. Upshaw and Brantlee Richards were the only players with two, but eight of the team’s nine starters had at least one.

Richards, Schoonover and McDonald had two RBIs apiece.

“Hitting is contagious,” Reeder said. “Sometimes, once we get on a roll, everybody gets confident and you don’t want to let anybody down.”

The next task for St. Al (12-7-1) is to go to Salem and close out the series. Reeder said she’s confident about the Lady Flashes’ chances, even if she sounded like a coach who was facing a do-or-die game.

“We’re confident, but tomorrow is a new day and anything can happen,” Reeder said. “Hopefully we can do it again and not have to play a doubleheader.”