Condover claim Women’s Indoor Softball North League trophy
Condover claimed the final Women’s Softball trophy of the indoor season when they beat Frankton Foxes in the final of the Strategic Leisure North Shropshire League at Walford College.
The league involved ten teams competing initially in two divisions with the top two teams progressing through to the Finals Night.
The ten teams involved this year were: Wem, Knockin & Kinnerley, Shelton, Frankton Foxes, Bomere Bullets, Elles Belles, Condover and Oswestry.
Oswestry won Pool A with Shelton as runners-up, while Condover won Pool B ahead of Frankton Foxes
Following the initial league rounds, progressing through to Finals Night were Pool A Winners Oswestry and Runners Up Shelton, alongside Pool B winners Condover and runners-up Frankton Foxes.
The first semi-final saw Shelton take on Condover.
Shelton bowled first with opening bowler Stacy’s figures leading the way. Condover set a net total of 255 thanks to top scorers Paula and Annette.
Shelton fought back, thanks to top scorers Stacy and Holly, however strong bowling performance from Helen, saw Shelton finish short on 250 net total.
In the second semi-final, Frankton bowled first against Oswestry with strong performances from Deb and Sophie.
Oswestry set a net target of 225, with Naomi top scoring.
Oswestry’s bowlers fought to restrict Frankton’s scoring with strong performances from Charlotte and Erin, however contributions from across the Frankton team saw them finish on 231 and progress through to the final.
The third versus fourth play-off then took place between Shelton and Oswestry saw a strong bowling performance once again from Charlotte and Helen from Oswestry, meant Shelton finished on a net total of 244.
Sophie and Holly then led the Shelton attack in the reply and held the Oswestry batters in check. Despite the efforts of Naomi, Helen and Erin, Shelton sealed their victory by six runs to claim third place.
In the final, Condover batted first, with runs shared across the team to finish on a nett total of 244 with Deb and Sophie again leading the Frankton attack.
The Foxes batting innings saw Emma top score, however another strong bowling performance from all the Condover attack saw them restrict Frankton to a net total of 227 to claim the trophy.
Organiser Katie Rushton said: “It was fantastic to have a league running in the North of the County once again. There was a real appetite to follow on from last year’s inaugural offer.
“To be in a position to offer a full calendar of both indoor and outdoor activity for Women’s Softball highlights the growth in the area and the appetite that remains amongst the teams.
“Thank you to Walford College for hosting us and the team captains and managers for arranging teams for fixtures.
“Final thank you to Rachel Fowler and Strategic Leisure, without her support facilitating indoor leagues would not be possible.
“We are now looking forward to the outdoor season, with a jam-packed fixture schedule.”