The Carson softball team is back in a familiar position against a familiar opponent.

The Colts (22-3-1) have advanced to the L.A. City Section Open Division championship game for the third consecutive season.

And for the third time, the Colts will face Granada Hills Charter for the title.

The Colts won the first two meetings. They will meet again today at 3 p.m. at Cal State Northridge.

In 2023, the Colts survived a wild game, winning 12-11. They started out with an 8-0 lead, fell behind 10-8 after the Highlanders scored 10 runs in the sixth, and tied it at 10-10 in the bottom of the inning.

Carson went on to win with a two-run home run by Alana Langford in the eighth inning.

Last year, hits and runs were difficult to come by, but the Colts escaped with a 1-0 win in 14 innings on another game-winning home run by Langford and a 17-strikeout performance by Giselle Pantoja.

The Colts offense has been on fire in these playoffs. Against Birmingham, the Colts scored 16 runs, and followed that with 11 runs against San Pedro in the semifinals. Ruby Grajeda, Kayleigh Allen and Ashannalee Titialii had three hits apiece against the Pirates, and Grajeda and Allen each drove in three runs.

Granada Hills Charter (27-3) went undefeated in the West Valley League. The Highlanders recorded three consecutive shutouts, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 44-0. Lainey Brown leads the team with nine home runs. Rylee Gardner leads Carson with seven.

Port of Los Angeles in Division I final

The top-seeded Port of Los Angeles softball team defeated Eagle Rock 5-1 in a Division I semifinal Thursday.

POLA (19-3) scored all five of its runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs. Makayla Samora, Isabella Cardona and Abigail Bazan had RBI singles and Jimena Vargas had a two-run triple.

Alyssa Setka pitched a complete game for the win. She allowed one run on five hits and struck out five.

POLA will face Legacy in the Division I final today at noon at Cal State Northridge.

Cardona leads POLA with seven home runs and 36 RBIs. Pitchers Setka and Vargas are both 6-0.

This is POLA’s first final appearance since 2013, when the Polar Bears won the Division III title.

Mary Star in CIF-SS D7 baseball final

The Mary Star baseball team (16-12) defeated No. 1 seed Channel Islands 7-6 in 11 innings in the CIF-SS Division 7 semifinals.

Mary Star will face Notre Dame of Riverside in the final today at Long Beach’s Blair Field at 1 p.m.

The Stars will be making their first CIF-SS final appearance since 2002.

Mary Star also has playoff wins over Patriot (11-9 in eight innings), Lancaster (12-2) and Garden Grove (8-7).

Notre Dame defeated Thacher (9-2), Granite Hills (6-1), Artesia (8-2) and Grace (5-4) in the playoffs.