End of season evaluations - part 2

Kitee clinched the final playoff spot in thrilling fashion 
End of season evaluation and review part 2
Places 6-9
As the season is but a distant memory now, we look back at each team and consider their performance.

6th Seinäjoen JymyJussit
Seinäjoki had a steady run throughout the year, but it was fairly average. Their runs for was above average however, although their results were effectively 15 wins and 15 losses.  At the end of the season Seinäjoki were 1 point above 7th and 1 point behind 5th, but well adrift of securing home field advantage. The final full week of the regular season saw Seinäjoki take 3 points in a win over Tahko and 1 point in a narrow loss to Sotkamo, which earns them top of that weeks Superpesis Roundup power rankings. Sadly Seinäjoki could not continue this form into the post season and they were swept 0-3 by KPL.
Final place in table: 6th
Final calculation: 6th
Mid season prediction: 6th
Comment: Consistently 6th.  Will need to try harder next year to secure home field advantage in the playoffs.
Overall grade:    
B-


7th Pattijoen Urheilijat, Raahe
Raahe were predicted to fall outside the playoff spots in our mid-season evaluations, but their performance in the second half of the season was the most improved in the league. The final half of the season saw Raahe claim 25 points from 13 games and featured 3rd once and 4th twice n our power rankings in that period. When it came to the postseason however, Raahe were swept by Sotkamo and really showed the gulf between 7th place and 2nd in the table.
Final place in table: 7th
Final calculation: 7th 
Mid season prediction: 9th
Comment: Need more offence to secure better results
Overall grade:    
B


8th Kiteen Pallo -90
Kitee stormed into the final playoff spot in dramatic fashion to end the season, having been as low as 11th place at the East v West break. Kitee had a good run in their final 10 games and were bested only by Vimpeli, Joensuu and Sotkamo in points gained. Kitee’s fairytale dash to the playoffs however was decisively extinguished when they were swept by League Leaders, Vimpeli. Kitee will need to start the season in 2020 the way they finished 2019 if they want to build on their success.

Final place in table: 8th
Final calculation: 8th
Mid season prediction: 10th
Comment: Stunning end to the season. Must start well in 2020 to avoid final day drama next year
Overall grade:    
C

9th Imatran Pallo Veikot
So close to making the playoffs, IPV just fell short as Kitee powered their way into 8th place with only 1 point separating the 2 teams. Defensively this was a poor year for IPV who gave up 280 runs, the 4th worst in the league; however IPV managed to win 6 games with 3 points, which was more than Kitee and more than any of the teams below them. Overall IPV punched a little above their weight when it came to our Pythagorean equation. We underestimated how well they would do in the second half of the season, but they still fell roughly in line with our predictions.
Final place in table: 9th
Final calculation: 10th 
Mid season prediction: 11th
Comment: Will need to do better defensively in order to make the playoffs next year.
Overall grade:    

C-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Playoff previews 2021: Semifinals

Image
The semifinals promise to be action packed and full of surprises… The first round of the playoffs are now over and the semifinals are set. Here is my preview of the last 4: (1) Manse PP v (4) Sotkamo Both of these teams played a tough series to reach the semifinals. Manse almost became the victims of a surprise series win by IPV; however Manse came back from losing their opening 2 games and won in 5 games. Sotkamo’s road to the semifinals had a substantially more threatening roadblock in the form of a hungry Joensuu side. If JoMa had home field advantage for the series, or the ball had bounced a certain way, this semifinal would look very different. Sotkamo’s regular season games against top 4 sides were not great and they lost more games than the other 3. Despite a dazzling performance at Kaupi on 30th July, Manse still got the better of the reigning champions in their most recent matchup. Manse now have to prove that they are the championship contenders they claim to be. Expect th
Read more

Finals review 2021

Image
In 5 games we were treated to some tense games and superb defence, but in the end Manse PP managed to break through and seal their first men’s championship in the club’s history in a 1-0 win over KPL. Manse finished top of the league in the regular season and soon became favourites to reach the final; however they were soon faced with elimination from the playoffs when they unexpectedly lost the first 2 games of their quarterfinal series against IPV. In the end, neither IPV or reigning champions Sotkamo could stop the star-studded team from securing their first final in only their second season in Superpesis. In my predictions going into the final, I struggled to pick a clear winner, but ended up backing KPL. At that point, I was convinced that Manse hadn’t reached their true potential this season and thought KPL would exploit that. A few weeks later and it seems that Manse did indeed unlock their potential and showed the strength of their defensive game in ways we rarely got to se
Read more

Halli SM review - Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat v Hyvinkään Tahko (08.02.2020)

Image
Tahko come up short in a hard fought defensive game against KPL Photograph from Tahko Facebook (c) Hyvinkään Tahko 2020 Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat v Hyvinkään Tahko 2-0 (1-0, 3-2) KPL were eager to get their Halli-SM campaign off to a good start, whereas Tahko tried to reboot their tournament after their defeat to Manse PP last week. In the recent matches between the 2 teams, the results have been fairly even with KPL taking the edge 3 games out of the last 5. The last 2 matches have been 1-0 wins for KPL and Tahko with little separating them. Tahko opted for a mostly unchanged lineup from the one that faced Manse PP on 1st February. The only replacement was Kristian Malikine in the catcher role who replaced Kaapo Kalmari, with Matias Kauppinen moving to 3rd base. For KPL, this was their first competitive match to show off Jere Dahlström, who they signed in the 2019 offseason. Tahko struggled to generate anything in the 1st inning with some tight fielding meaning that only Jer
Read more