The James Logan Courier

The James Logan Lady Colts' run for the NCS 3A Softball Championship hit a familiar obstacle Friday evening, Freedom High School of Oakley, which ruined the Lady Colts' night by beating them, 4-1.

The Falcons, 24-0 and the top seed in the tournament, beat the Lady Colts' in similar fashion last year. In fact, the Falcons have won the NCS 3A title every year since 2002.

Logan hasn't won the title since 1996. They end the season at 22-5.

The Falcons standout pitcher, Amanda Williams, held the Lady Colts in check nearly the entire game, striking out 16 of the first 18 Logan batters she faced.

The Lady Colts were finally able to salvage some measure of pride from the game when they scored an earned run, becoming only the second team able to accomplish that feat against Freedom all year, when Melissa Munoz doubled in Alex Stange in the seventh inning.

On Wednesday, in the quarterfinals, Freedom pushed College Park out of the tournament, 6-0. In that game, Amanda Williams struck out 17 batters and allowed two hits. College Park was the last team other than Freedom to win the title, which they did in 2001.

The Falcons will meet Logan's Mission Valley Athletic League rival Newark Memorial in the final round at Fricke Field in Berkeley at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Newark, the MVAL champs this year, are the number two seed and sport a gaudy 28-0 record.

They beat 11th seed San Ramon Valley, representing the East Bay Athletic League, 8-2, in the semi-final round.