SOCCER

Italy eliminates England with shootout victory

Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to send Italy through to the European Championship semifinals with a 4-2 win over England in a shootout following a 0-0 tie at Kiev, Ukraine.

England led 2-1 after the first two rounds of the shootout, but Ashley Young hit the crossbar with England’s third try, and Ashley Cole’s attempt was saved by Gianluigi Buffon.

Italy will next play Germany in the semifinals on Thursday.

Mario Balotelli, Andrea Pirlo and Antonio Nocerino also scored for Italy. Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney scored England’s penalties.

NPSL: Ben Brewster scored the tying goal in the 87th minute as the Seacoast Mariners played to a 2-2 draw with the Rhode Island Reds in a National Premier Soccer League game at Scarborough High.

Seacoast took a 1-0 lead on Sam White’s goal in the 17th minute. Rhode Island tied it on an own goal and took the lead on Art Wilder’s goal just before halftime.

BASEBALL

NECBL: Ethan Bennett hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Laconia (6-7) a 6-5 win over Sanford (4-8) in a New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Laconia, N.H.

Troy Black’s grand slam put the Mainers up 5-3 in the fifth inning.

FCBL: Sam Balzano went 4 for 4 with two RBI and Dan Fratus was 2 for 5 with a home run to pace Old Orchard Beach (6-6) to a 10-0 win over visiting Wachusett (4-11) in a Futures Collegiate Baseball League game.

Tyler Laverriere pitched five innings for the win, combining with five relievers on a three-hitter.

TWILIGHT LEAGUE: Collin Henry hit a two-run double and pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save for Aero Heating & Ventilating (3-2) in a 5-4 win over Lenders Network (1-2-1) at Cumberland.

Aero took a 4-0 lead in the third inning, keyed by Henry’s double and Nick Grady’s RBI single.

Grady finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored and three stolen bases. John Carey had two hits and an RBI for Lenders Network.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Konner Wade threw his third straight complete game, Robert Refsnyder homered for the second game in a row and Arizona beat two-time defending national champion South Carolina 5-1 in the opener of the best-of-three finals at Omaha, Neb.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Fernando Alonso of Ferrari won an incident-filled European Grand Prix at Valencia, Spain, to become the first driver to win two races this season, while Michael Schumacher earned his first podium finish since his comeback.

Alonso moved up from 11th on the starting grid to claim an emotional victory in front of his home fans after pole sitter Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull stalled on the track midway through the race.

Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus finished second, and Schumacher completed the podium after Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado collided on the penultimate lap as they fought for third place.

Alonso’s 29th career win lifted him into first place in the points standings, 10 ahead of Mark Webber, who finished fourth.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti dismissed reports that 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson or former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy could be the team’s next coach, saying an extension with Scott Brooks is a top priority.

Brooks led Oklahoma City to the NBA finals, but his contract runs out at the end of the month. He has overseen a steady development since taking over the Thunder early in the 2008-09 season.

WNBA: Angel McCoughtry scored 23 points and Sancho Lyttle added 19 to lead the Atlanta Dream to a 74-64 victory over the New York Liberty at Newark, N.J.

• Ann Wauters had 14 points and seven rebounds to help the Seattle Storm beat the visiting Washington Mystics 72-55.

• Sophia Young scored 20 points as the San Antonio Silver Stars handed the Los Angeles Sparks their first defeat at home, 91-71.

— From staff and news services