Liberty is heading to a North Coast Section softball final for the first time in 28 years.

The Brentwood school advanced to its first NCS championship game since 1997 by winning 3-1 at home over 13th-seeded Foothill in a semifinal game on Wednesday. Liberty (22-5), the bracket’s top seed, will play No. 3 Casa Grande in the championship game today at Saint Mary’s College.

“There’s so much pride,” Liberty coach Brandi Macias said. “These girls have so much heart and soul and love for each other and to see them put it all together at the end and do what I know they’re capable of doing is special.”

Liberty’s Kate Skinner was dominant in the circle. The Illinois State-bound junior gave up a run and five hits and struck out 11.

“I was just trusting my pitches and trusting my defense behind me,” Skinner said. “I was just rolling.”

Foothill scored the first run in the top of the third inning when sophomore Alexa Sponsel blasted a pitch over the right-field fence for a home run.

But Liberty responded in its half of the third.

With two on and no outs, Taylor Jennings reached first on a bunt while knocking in Kylee McKinney to tie the score. Two batters later, Kaitlyn Macias laid down a sacrifice bunt that brought home Jennings from third, giving Liberty a one-run lead.

Division I

No. 3 Casa Grande 9, No. 2 Livermore 0: Casa Grande dominated host Livermore to advance to the NCS Division I final. Lila Partridge pitched a one-hitter with nine strikeouts, and Lauren Ketchu went 4 for 5 with two RBIs to lead Casa Grande (22-5-1). The Petaluma school will be seeking its third straight NCS title but first in Division I. Livermore (19-10) will host Foothill on Saturday in a third-place game that will decide which team will receive the section’s final CIF NorCal playoff bid.

Division III

No. 4 Alhambra 12, No. 9 Freedom 1: Alhambra exploded for six runs in the fourth and six in the sixth to rout visiting Freedom after being held scoreless through three innings. Willa Adler did it all for the Bulldogs. In the circle, she scattered five hits and struck out five while allowing just one earned run. She also drove in three runs. Jolie Cortez chipped in with two RBIs. Alhambra (16-10) will play San Leandro in the championship game at Diablo Valley College on Saturday.

No. 11 San Leandro 11, No. 2 Maria Carrillo 10: The Pirates pulled off a stunner in a back-and-forth game to advance to the Division III title game. Trailing by a run going into the fifth inning, San Leandro scored three to take a 10-8 lead. The Pirates added another run in the seventh when Malia Bromstead walked with the bases loaded. Carrillo came close to tying the score after Erin Kelleher hit a two-out single that scored two runs. But San Leandro’s Marina Sacrey retired the final batter to seal the win.

Division V

No. 4 Miramonte 2, No. 1 McKinleyville 1: Miramonte is one win from its first NCS championship in program history after the Matadors traveled to McKinleyville and beat the hosts in a tight semifinal. Abby Warren pitched a complete game and had two hits herself and Maddie McKim and Avery Haynes scored the runs. Miramonte took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. McKinleyville evened the score with an unearned run in the third and the visitors broke the tie with a run in the fifth. The Matadors (17-8) advance to play Kennedy-Fremont (12-8) on Saturday at California School for the Deaf in Fremont for the title.

Baseball Division II

No. 5 Acalanes 4, No. 1 Cardinal Newman 2: Ando Butner hit a first-inning leadoff homer and Jimmy Cusumano knocked in two runs with a double later in the inning to lead Acalanes past Cardinal Newman in a semifinal of the NCS Division II playoffs in Santa Rosa. Acalanes (16-10-1) will play No. 15 seed Rancho Cotate for the division crown on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Diablo Valley College. Rancho Cotate beat Tamalpais in the other Division II semifinal. The Dons scored three runs in the first inning and another run in the third against Josh Jannicelli, rated by Baseball America as one of the top prospects in Northern California. Acalanes’ Branson Smith pitched a complete game, allowing three hits, walking one and striking out three.

Division IV

No. 13 Las Lomas 12, No. 8 Healdsburg 0: Las Lomas continued to shake up the Division IV playoffs, scoring six runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth. The game was called after the fifth. In three playoff games thus far, the lower-seeded Knights have outscored their opponents 20-1. They have allowed three hits. Las Lomas has played all three games on the road. Alessandro Martinez-Cabrera, Matthew Williams and Thomas Wood combined to allow only two hits against Healdsburg. Jimmy Salinas and Harrison May did most of the damage at the plate. Salinas homered, doubled, scored three runs and drove in three. May had two hits, scored two runs and had two RBIs. Las Lomas (15-11-1) will play at No. 6 seed Clear Lake (19-5) on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the championship.

Division VI

No. 1 Swett 4, No. 4 Athenian 1: When James Gibson hit a leadoff double in the home half of the first inning, little did anyone know that would be Swett’s only hit of the game. As it turned out, the Warriors didn’t need another. Gibson eventually scored on two wild pitches, then he crossed the plate again in the third when Swett scored three runs without getting a hit. The Warriors (14-6-2) will host St. Mary’s-Berkeley for the Division VI crown on Saturday at 1 p.m. Swett has won an NCS baseball title once before, in 2006. The school opened in 1927. the same year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs.

No. 2 St. Mary’s-Berkeley 11, No. 3 Sonoma Academy 1: Despite a 6-18 regular-season record, the Panthers were seeded second in Division VI. In their first three playoff games, they have outscored their opponents 40-4. Against Sonoma Academy (15-6), St. Mary’s led 8-0 after two innings. The 10-run mercy rule ended the game after five innings. Lucas Nitsan led a nine-hit attack with a homer, double, three runs scored and four RBIs. Logan Donoviel and Damien Nolan each had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two.

Darren Sabedra contributed to this report