The sunny season for the Devon Women's Softball League and Devon Girls’ Cricket League came to an end on Sunday with the Finals for the girls’ divisions and the women's hardball pairs at Teignmouth & Shaldon Cricket Club.
The games planned were as follows:
| Main Pitch | Nursery Pitch |
| 9:30am Under 15 Super 8s Paignton vs Exeter |
9:45am Under 13 Powerpairs Teignmouth & Shaldon vs Exeter |
|
1:30pm |
12pm Under 13 Countdown Cricket Bovey Tracey vs Tavistock |
Under 15 Super 8s
| Under 15 Super 8s Final | |||
 |
Paignton 93/3 (16.0) |
Exeter 76/7 (14.2) |
 |
| Paignton won by 17 runs | |||
At the Under 15 Super 8s toss, Exeter won and chose to bowl. Paignton started positively with some excellent running between the wickets and a timely 6 took Sophie Kirkup to her retirement score, which had typified her season in the division. Exeter’s tight bowling continued and restricted Paignton’s total to 93.
Exeter went to the crease and started well, but Paignton’s fielding and bowling made it challenging, but they were on track. However, in the 13th over that all changed, with Exeter losing 4 wickets for 1 run, giving Paignton the title of Division Champions 2026.
Under 13 Powerpairs
| Under 13 Powerpairs Final | |||
 |
Teignmouth & Shaldon 99/7 |
Exeter 120/4 |
|
| Exeter won by 36 runs | |||
Teignmouth and Shaldon won the toss and elected to field. Despite limited extras and tight fielding from the Teignmouth and Shaldon team, Exeter scored consistently with good running between the wickets, with a top score from Doon Wozniak on 20.
Setting a total of 100, Teignmouth needed 101 to win. Exeter made that difficult though with tight bowling and regular wickets, 3 from Iris Stephens. Despite a late 16 from Ella Tilley, they could not reach the total required and were 36 runs short.
Under 13 Countdown Cricket Final
| Under 13 Countdown Cricket Final | |||
 |
Tavistock Net Score 102 |
Bovey Tracey Net Score 101 |
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| Tavistock won by 1 run | |||
Tavistock and Bovey Tracey took to the field coming unbeaten to the final. Bovey Tracey batted first and set a score of 101 against the high standard of bowling and fielding of Tavistock.
Batting in response, Tavistock went into their last pair needing only 8 runs to win off 20 balls. But as we know, cricket can change very quickly, and with Bovey taking 3 wickets, the nerves of the Tavistock spectators started to grow. As the balls went by and Tavistock scored runs but also lost another wicket, it all came down to needing one run off the last ball, and Tavistock took it, giving themselves the title of Under 13 Countdown Cricket Division winners.
Devon Women’s Softball League Hardball Pairs
| Devon Women's Softball League Hardball Pairs Final | |||
 |
Stoke Gabriel 217/2 |
Exwick 105/9 |
 |
| Stoke Gabriel won by 147 runs | |||
This was the first season of the hardball pairs format, and both teams came to the final unbeaten in their groups.
Winning the toss, Stoke Gabriel chose to field first. Exwick opener Caitlin Smith set an excellent 31 off 31 balls, but the side unfortunately lost continual wickets throughout the game, and batters struggled to get into positive figures from their pairs. They closed their innings with Stoke Gabriel needing just 60 runs to take the trophy.
Right from the start, Stoke Gabriel were set on quickly chasing down the score and with some additional extras from Exwick, they were soon on a good path to do that. The end pairs came in with the knowledge that victory was almost secure. Batting carefully but with purpose, Stoke Gabriel ended with a 147-run lead, making them the inaugural winners of the DWSL Hardball Pairs champions.
Individual Awards
During presentations, batter and bowlers of the season were celebrated.
| Competition | Batter | Bowler |
|
DGCL Under 13 Powerpairs |
Florence Hill |
Megan Drury |
|
DGCL Under 15 Super 8s |
Sophie Kirkup |
Sophie Kirkup |
|
DWSL Hardball Pairs |
Gabby Le Maux |
Gabby Le Maux |
"It has been another fantastic season with excellent weather and some superb cricket. Thanks to Dan O’Connell and Teignmouth & Shaldon CC for hosting, but most thanks have to go to all the volunteers and officials who ensure the games are played. I could not do it without them. They are the lifeblood of the game," said Ann-Marie Presswell
