SPORTS digest

Boardman 11-U team crushes New Albany

CAMBRIDGE

Collin Resetar pitched five innings of one-hit ball as the 11-U Boardman Little League All-Stars beat New Albandy 17-0 on Wednesday.

Ryan Smith came on and worked a perfect sixth to preserve the shutout. The offense was lead by Resetar and Smith, each with three hits and a combined eight RBIs.

Vince Butto and Dominick Gordon each had two hits. Smith, Butto and Gabe Hammerton each scored three runs.

Boardman advances to the winners bracket final against host team Cambridge on Friday.

Canfield-Poland falls to Filipino team

KIRKLAND, WASH.

The Canfield-Poland Junior League Softball team lost to Filipino side Bulacan Little League, 7-5, on Wednesday in the Junior League Softball World Series.

Canfield-Poland finished pool play 3-1 and has qualified for the bracket portion of the tournament. Alaina Francis and Mary Brant each had three hits, with Francis collecting three RBIs.

The team will face the Arizona-based Four Peaks Little League today at 7:30 p.m.

Sprint cars back at Sharon Speedway

HARTFORD

The “410” sprint cars will return to Sharon Speedway Saturday night as a part of Thompson Fab Night.

The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars will be featured in their second of four straight appearances and they will be joined by the RUSH Sportsman Modified Touring Series, Gibson Insurance Agency Stock Cars, and Summit Racing Equipment Econo Mods. There will also be a Stock Car mechanics race at the end of the night. Race time is 7 p.m.

FIFA expands Women’s World Cup

FIFA’s Council has unanimously approved expanding the Women’s World Cup from 24 teams to 32 for 2023 and has reopened bidding to host the tournament but made no mention of changing prize money.

Nine national associations had expressed interest in hosting and were due to submit their formal bids by Oct. 4: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea, which could bid jointly with North Korea

Under the new timetable, any national association has until December to make a bid. FIFA expects a bid evaluation report next April and a decision the following month.

The Women’s World Cup started with 12 teams in 1991, expanded to 16 in 1999 and 24 in 2015.

Atletico Madrid routs MLS All-Stars

ORLANDO, FLA.

Marcos Llorente, Joao Felix, Diego Costa scored to lead 10-time Spanish League champion Atletico Madrid to a 3-0 victory over Major League Soccer’s best in the annual MLS All-Star game Wednesday night.

Llorente scored in the 43rd minute and Feliz and Costa came off the bench to score late goals in the rain-delayed match away before a sellout crowd of 25,527.

The MLS’s best have faced international opponents 16 times in the All-Star Game. The past two years, Italian powerhouse Juventus and Spain’s Real Madrid won on penalty kicks after the teams played to 1-1 draws through 90 minutes.

Ronaldo, Messi, Rapinoe up for awards

GENEVA

Five-time winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are among the 10 candidates for the FIFA best player award. American forward Megan Rapinoe is the favorite for the women’s award.

Ronaldo and Messi were joined by three Liverpool players, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane. Liverpool won the Champions League title in June.

Rapinoe was in a list of 12 players that included teammates Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle and Julie Ertz. Ada Hegerberg, a Norway forward who won the Ballon d’Or but skipped this year’s World Cup, was also nominated.

Staff/wire report