AREA SPORTS BRIEFS: Kiwanis beats Leitz in 16U softball league finale

PORT ANGELES — Maryrose Halberg was the winning pitcher for Kiwanis with eight strikeouts, holding Leitz to three hits in a 13-1 win. Adi Richardson had two singles and Lynzee Reid hit a double for Kiwanis.

Abby Rudd came in to pitch in the fifth inning and Kiwanis’ defense finished the inning with a double play by Halberg and Kennedy Rognlien at first and short.

Kiwanis bats were hot with eight of the 10 batters in the line up getting at least one hit. Rognlien and Halberg each went 3-for-3, with Rognlien hitting a single, double and triple. Alexis Perry and Abby went 2-for-2 with each hitting doubles. Lily Thomas, Hannah Hairell and Natalee Thompson all added hits, with Thompson’s a triple in the second inning.

Reid pitched for Leitz for four innings, earning two strikeouts.

The last league game is Friday against KONP. Next Wednesday will be the league championship.

Ukraine near World Cup

GLASGOW, Scotland ­­— Ukraine’s emotion-filled quest to qualify for the World Cup amid an ongoing war moved past the first hurdle with a 3-1 win over Scotland on Wednesday in a pulsating playoff semifinal.

Now the team needs just one more win to reach Qatar.

Ukraine coach Oleksandr Petrakov said the win was for “the armed forces in the trenches and in the hospitals, who give their last drop of blood, those in Ukraine who suffer every day.”

Now Ukraine moves on to face Wales on Sunday with a place at the World Cup at stake.

The winner in Cardiff will go to Qatar in November to play in a group against England, the United States and Iran.

The Ukrainian players all walked onto the field each with a blue and yellow national flag draped on their shoulders.

The warm welcome saw Ukraine’s national anthem applauded loudly by Scotland fans. Many of those same fans stayed after the game to salute their victorious opponents off the field.

“Also I give my gratitude to the people of Scotland ­— an amazing, hospitable place,” Petrakov said.

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