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Women's Pro Baseball League playoffs open with San Francisco rally

· Yahoo Sports

The San Francisco Firebells marched another step closer to their main prize after rustling up the No. 1 overall seed for the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League playoffs. 

No. 1 overall draft pick Kelsie Whitmore hurdled brushes of adversity on the mound over five innings before the Firebells rallied to a 6-4 victory over the No. 4 Boston Hunters in the semifinal opener of the best-of-three series at Robin Roberts Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026.  

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“I really wasn’t paying attention too much to whatever was going on before the game,” Whitmore said. “I was trying to stay locked in and focused. I was just really excited. I just tried to have fun with it while I also stayed as locked in as possible.” 

Whitmore picked up the win with three runs allowed on six hits and two walks, her fourth win in seven starts. She tied New York Heights catcher Denae Benites with 11 home runs in the regular season, to boot. 

The San Diego native sparked the fifth-inning rally with a single and scored the tying run following a Skylar Kaplan double and Andreanne Leblanc RBI groundout.  

The ensuing batter, Alexia Jorge, supplied the go-ahead RBI double for a 4-3 advantage. 

Boston manager Jemile Weeks twice opted to intentionally walk Whitmore, prompting more than just jeers from the fans. The Firebells capitalized each time with two runs in the third and sixth innings. 

Kaplan finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Leblanc had two RBIs.  

Beth Greenwood led the Hunters with three RBIs on a sacrifice fly and double. 

“Of course I want to hit, but at the same time, I’ll take the bag,” Whitmore said. “If anything, it’s almost like a ‘thank you’ because whoever comes up next is going to pound the ball and put in a good at-bat. I’ve got full trust in Sky and it was awesome to see her capitalize.” 

The Firebells ended the regular season 10-5, while Boston generated just four wins. The No. 2 and 3 seeds, Los Angeles Queens and New York Heights, each went 8-7. 

This page will be updated with other semifinal results during the WPBL playoffs. See the schedule below.  

WPBL playoff schedule 

Teams that win the best-of-three semifinal series advance to the best-of-five championship series beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 16. All games are at Robin Roberts Stadium and can be streamed on ESPN-Plus. 

Semifinal round 

Thursday, Sept. 10 

Series B: Los Angeles vs. New York, Game 1 (6 p.m. CT), Series tied 0-0 

Friday, Sept. 11 

Series A: San Francisco vs. Boston, Game 2 (5 p.m. CT), San Francisco leads series 1-0 

Saturday, Sept. 12 

Series B: New York vs. Los Angeles, Game 2 (6 p.m. CT) 

Sunday, Sept. 13 

Series A: Boston vs. San Francisco, Game 3 (2 p.m. CT), if necessary 

Monday, Sept. 14 

Series B: Los Angeles vs. New York, Game 3 (6 p.m. CT), if necessary 

Championship series (best-of-five) 

Wednesday, Sept. 16 

Game 1, 6 p.m. CT 

Thursday, Sept. 17 

Game 2, 6 p.m. CT 

Saturday, Sept. 19 

Game 3, 6 p.m. CT 

Sunday, Sept. 20 

Game 4, 6 p.m. CT (if necessary) 

Tuesday, Sept. 22 

Game 5, 6 p.m. CT (if necessary) 

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Women's Pro Baseball League playoffs open with San Francisco rally

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Rain and thundershowers to hit parts of three provinces on Thursday

· The South African

Parts of the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape can expect rain and thundershowers on Thursday, with some coastal areas starting the day under fog and cool conditions.

Rain develops in the Northern Cape

Morning fog will affect parts of the coast, while the rest of the province will be partly cloudy and warm.

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Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected in the south, while the west should remain fine.

Moderate to fresh southerly to south-easterly winds will blow along the coast.

Western Cape to see rain along the coast

The south coast will start the day with morning fog, cloudy skies and light rain, with temperatures remaining cool.

Elsewhere, conditions will range from partly cloudy to fine and warm.

South-easterly winds will strengthen from the afternoon along the coast, reaching fresh to strong speeds. The south coast will instead have moderate south-westerly winds.

Eastern Cape could see afternoon showers

The western half of the Eastern Cape will be cool along the coast, with light rain and morning fog in places.

Elsewhere, conditions will start partly cloudy and warm to hot before isolated showers and thundershowers develop in the afternoon.

The eastern half of the province will start fine before becoming partly cloudy and warm, although it will remain cool north of the escarpment.

Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected in the west from the afternoon.

Moderate to fresh winds will affect the coast, with south-westerly winds reaching strong speeds in places in the western half.

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India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I in Delhi to go ahead as scheduled on September 13

· India Today

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