Ready.

Set.

Go.

As easy as 1, 2, 3, right?

It really hasn't been for Siuslaw softball coach Sean O'Mara, whose Vikings open Far West League play Friday with a doubleheader at Marshfield.

"How am I supposed to prep a team?" O'Mara said of a weather-tattered schedule, making it difficult to get from ready to go. "It's harsh, but it is what it is."

Two doubleheaders cancelled. A game eliminated because Junction City over-scheduled.

Five lost games without throwing a pitch.

Still, the Vikings have managed to play seven, and will take a 3-4 record to Coos Bay following a 6-5 loss Tuesday at Tillamook.

"Our offense still has more distance to get better than the defense," O'Mara said. "Our defense is pretty close to being what it's going to be, especially the infield."

The infield features a veteran battery of pitcher Heidi Jones and catcher Nikki Launius, with Claire Waggoner at first base, Jenicah Ecker at second, Taylor Dotson at third and Anna Petras at shortstop.

O'Mara is still tinkering with his outfield of Hannah Bartlett, Katherine Dodson, Auriel Hager-Tolle and Anna Stonelake.

Slugger Chehalis Stinger will draw starts at designated hitter, while Nicole Gordon and Sara Keel offer infield flexibility coming off the bench.

"I feel like I've got more hitters, 1 through 9, than have been showing up," O'Mara said. "I see it in practice regularly. We just have to make a better transition from practice to games, off live arms."

The Vikings will face one of the league's livest arms Friday in Mackenzie Johnson, who was first-team all-league last season as a sophomore.

"She can really make the softball move," O'Mara said. "She keeps us off balance really well. So there will be lots of curveballs and rise-balls in practice the day before."

The Vikings' starter is no slouch on the mound. O'Mara believes Jones has come a long way since last season, when she was second-team all-league.

"We need her to keep the ball closer to the plate, let her defense play ball, and not to try to put it all on her shoulders," he said.

The Vikings already have matched their win total of last season, and O'Mara is optimistic about this season.

"We have to make better adjustments, but of course that takes game situations," he said.

Beginning Friday, in Coos Bay.

"Whether we're ready or not, it starts Friday," O'Mara said.

Go time 3 p.m.

NOTES

Marshfield returns two other first-team all-league players in catcher Khalani Hoyer and outfielder Savannah Williams. ... The Pirates' Brooke Toy was Far West League coach of the year in 2015. ...

The Vikings' Claire Waggoner was a second-team all-league infielder last season and teammate Taylor Dotson was honorable mention. ...

Marshfield is 5-3 entering league play. Douglas also is 5-3, South Umpqua 7-4, North Bend 4-2 and Brookings-Harbor 1-6. ...

Also Friday, Brookings-Harbor is at Douglas and South Umpqua at North Bend. ... All three matchups are doubleheaders with the first game starting at 3 p.m. ...

Siuslaw finished preleague 2-0 at home, 1-3 on the road and 0-1 on a neutral field. ... Three of the games — two of them losses — were against lower division teams: 2A Waldport, 3A Harrisburg and 2A Reedsport. ...

Siuslaw's wins were 5-3 at Waldport and 15-8 over Sutherlin and 4-3 over Junction City. ... Losses were 11-2 to Harrisburg at Reedsport, 5-4 at Reedsport, 7-0 at Elmira and 6-5 at Tillamook ...