Halli SM review - Koskenkorvan Urheilijat v Kankaanpään Maila (01.03.2020)
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| A big win for KaMa falls just short of what they needed to stay in the race for the last semi-final spot Photograph from KaMa Facebook (c) Kankaanpään Maila 2020 |
Koskenkorvan Urheilijat v Kankaanpään Maila
0-1 (1-1, 2-4)
As the group stages come to a close, Kankaanpää had an outside chance to advance for the final spot in the semifinals. To get there they would have to beat Koskenkorva by winning both jakso and Vimpeli would have to lose to JymyJussit. Over the last 5 games between the two teams Koskenkorva have a slight edge, although it is worth noting that 4 of those games were decided in supervuoro or kotiutuskilpailu. Kankaanpää’s tournament started with a big win against JymyJussit, before stumbling in a low scoring loss to Vimpeli. Koskenkorva’s 2 games in the tournament returned little, despite the fact that both losses had fairly close score lines.
First Jakso
Koskenkorva took to the plate first and Otto Kauppinen immediately found first base with a hit to deep right field; however the inning remained scoreless as Koskenkorva were unable to bring runners safely to 3rd base. In the bottom of the 1st inning KaMa had 2 3rd base situations; however failed to capitalise on either as Topias Lilja was out at home off Kari Kellokoski ’s soft hit to the midfield line. The inning ended as Jouni Itävalo’s attempt to reach home came off Petteri Kortelainen’s hit directly to a Koskenkorva fielder, leaving Itävalo stranded between 3rd base and home as a jog. In the 2nd inning Koskenkorva’s leadoff hitter managed to reach 3rd base and pose the ire first threat of the game. This threat was soon neutralised when Patrik Wahlsten’s hit to the middle infield was easily scooped up to beat Otto Kauppinen to home base. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, KaMa tried to break the deadlock with no success, seeing their first threat wiped out with a base clearing haava and their second, an easy throw to home beating Mikko Pauna off Kari Kellokoski’s hit to the midfield line.
In the 3rd inning Koskenkorva struggled to get players on base, despite Eero Kuitunen’s leadoff ground rule double. Koskenkorva failed to safely reach 3rd base during the inning and remained scoreless. With time slipping away, KaMa tried to force the issue, but the only real chance of the inning came with Manu Haukkala reaching 3rd base off Jouni Itävalo’s hit. This threat was defused however as Petteri Kortelainen’s hit was easily fielded by a Koskenkorva shortstop and thrown to home to end the inning. The deadlock was finally broken in the 4th inning as Patrik Wahlsten’s hit to the left shortstop was misfielded and allowed Anttoni Jakobsson to score. With pressure on KaMa to save their hopes of reaching the semi-finals, things started to look bleak, losing 2 outs without scoring. KaMa breathed a sigh of relief as Topias Lilja reached home from Kari Kellokoski’s hit; however it simply was not enough and the jakso was tied 1-1. The tied jakso meant that Kankaanpää could not qualify for the semi finals and all of a sudden, the pressure was off for Vimpeli.
Second Jakso
Kankaanpää took to the plate in the second jakso and with the pressure now off, managed to produce 2 runs in the 1st inning. The first run came as Niko Korhonen ’s looping line drive dropped between the KoU fielders in right field to give Arttu Ruuska time to reach home. The second run came as Niko Korhonen returned home off Petteri Kortelainen’s hit across the midfield line. The bottom of the 1st inning saw Koskenkorva draw level with a big appearance at the plate for Patrik Wahlsten. With the bases loaded, Wahlsten successfully brought home Jaakko Erkkilä and Petrus Puputti off a ground rule double in left field, but could not bring Aapeli Suvisalmi home safely, who was beaten to the plate by a bouncing throw from centre field. In the 2nd inning KaMa struck back and regained the lead as Mikko Pauna finally made it home from 3rd base after being stuck there for most of the inning waiting on a solid hit. That chance came off the bat of Petteri Kortelainen, who struck a line drive to right field and gave Mikko Pauna the time needed to sprint home. In the bottom of the 2nd inning Koskenkorva were scoreless, as KaMa started to squeeze the game and held KoU to only 1 runner beyond 1st base, and none safely to 3rd base.
KaMa put the game further out of reach in the 3rd inning when Kari Kellokoski was set up on 3rd base following Joona Anttila’s ground rule double from a long fly ball to left field. Arttu Ruuska sealed the deal as his hit to right field brought Kellokoski home to make it 2-4. From this position KaMa held onto the reins and kept control. Koskenkorva could only manage 2 more 3rd base situation in the game. In the 3rd inning Jaakko Erkkilä reached 2nd base off his own hit due to a wild throw before reaching 3rd base from Aapeli Suvisalmi’s line drive to left field. KoU however left him stranded and could not land a hit to bring him home as Patrik Wahlsten struck out to end the inning. After a scoreless 4th inning from KaMa, KoU came to the plate hoping to turn the game around, sadly for them, this did not happen. KaMa quickly dispatched KoU in the 4th inning despite Otto Kauppinen reaching 3rd base. The jakso ended 2-4 and Kankaanpää won the game.
Analysis
Kankaanpää put in another solid performance to turn in another win. Despite the poor end to their 2019 season, which saw then drop out of contention for a playoff spot and finish the season in 10th, Kankaanpää beat both Koskenkorva and JymyJussit. Koskenkorva are still rebuilding their team and will have to look at what worked in the final weeks of 2019 if they are to avoid talks of relegation battles when September rolls around.
Kankaanpää had much better success at creating 3rd base situations than Koskenkorva, as KaMa went 11/13 (%) at moving the point runner to 3rd base compared to Koskenkorva’s 6/13 (%). The end result saw KaMa have 14 3rd base situations compared to Koskenkorva’s 8. In the second jakso, KaMa took control of the game and shut Koskenkorva down; after KaMa took the lead, Koskenkorva only had 2 3rd base situations over 3 innings. KaMa’s Jouni Itävalo went a perfect 8/8 in the game, with 6 successful hits moving the point runner to 2nd base. Runs came from several players in the KaMa lineup, despite Petteri Kortelainen being held to a meagre 2/7 with runners on 3rd base. In contrast, Koskenkorva’s Patrik Wahlsten went 3/5 with runners on 3rd base, but the sheer number of chances that KaMa had made the difference in the game.
Both teams sadly bow out of the tournament and their next competitive matches will be in the Summer later this year. KaMa have shown some promise in this tournament, but both teams will have a fight on their hands if they want to secure a playoff spot.
Game statistics
Koskenkorvan Urheilijat
pj:Mikko Vainionpää Ollli-Pekka Sinkkonen
3-tilanteet:8, harhat:0, vapaat:0
| # | Pelaaja | Up | Ly | Tu | KL | 1% | 2% | 3% | K% | KL % | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kankaanpään Maila
pj:Jukka Karttunen Niko Peltomäki
3-tilanteet:14, harhat:0, vapaat:0
| # | Pelaaja | Up | Ly | Tu | KL | 1% | 2% | 3% | K% | KL % | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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