Player signings - part 2

In Kitee its not just the stadium that is in being rebuilt, as the Coronavirus impacts on their player lineup Photograph from Kitee Facebook (c) Kiteen Pallo -90


Part 2 of this series focuses on Kankaanpää, Kempele and Kitee. Both Kempele and Kitee have had their lineups effected by the financial and practical fallout from the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and both need to rethink their strategies for 2020.


Kankaanpään Maila

Kankaanpää had a disappointing end to 2019, dropping out of contention for a playoff spot and eventually dropping to 10th place. Manu Haukkala escapes the sinking Alajärvi, who were relegated to Ykköspesis in 2019. Haukkala is a relatively young player, (22) with only 2 full seasons in Superpesis. Haukkala is still a developing player and time will tell if this signing will make much of an impact on KaMa’s chances in 2020. In the Halli-SM group games Haukkala batted 1st and had 10 successful hits, including 8 to 1st base. His best performance was against 2019’s league leaders Vimpeli going 5/7 to 1st base.


The other signing for Kankaanpää is Rasmus Paananen, who played for Sotkamo’s Ykköspesis team in 2019 for 7 games. Paananen didn't play in the Halli-SM group games and is likely to feature as an investment for the team in years to come.


Kankaanpää’s off-season has been relatively uneventful and much of their success in 2020 will be down to their regular players from 2019 finding an extra gear and improving their game. As it stands, I cant see Kankaanpää making the leap to being a top-8 team this season.


New signings

Manu Haukkala - Alajärven Ankkurit

Rasmus Paananen - Sotkamon Jymy (Ykköspesis)


Departures

None



Young hopeful Märsylä will not play due to
the impact of Coronavirus
Photograph from Kempele  Facebook 
(C) Kempeleen Kiri 2020
Kempeleen Kiri

Kempele are still finding their feet in Superpesis and are looking to build on the positives from 2019. Kempele were outside shots at taking the 8th playoff spot for most of the season and kept pace with some of the teams ahead of them in the table. Ultimately Kempele were outdone and finished in 12th place. Excitedly, Kempele were pleased to announce the signing of Jussi Korhonen in late 2019. Korhonen did not feature much on the stats sheets for Sotkamo, despite playing in 24 games in the regular season. Korhonen’s lower batting order meant that he only ended up with 18 successful hits in 2019. In the Halli-SM group games, Korhonen was not able to produce much, although he did have 4 successful hits in 2 games against tough opponent (Sotkamo and PattU).


Tommi Koivisto had a good year with Simon Kiri in 2019 and had 84 successful hits across 20 games in Ykköspesis. Koivisto is a good investment for Kempele and I able to progress runners well. In Halli-SM, Koivisto was a perfect pairing for Märsylä as a joker slotting in as a runner and had a fair amount of success across 2 games with 10 successful hits (8 of which were to 1st base).


Misa Märsylä sadly will not play for Kempele in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Märsylä was a key signing for Kempele and a good investment for the future. Märsylä was 4th overall in Ykköspesis for successful hits in 2019 and featured in 1 game with Kempele in Halli-SM 2020. 


In general Kempele have some fundamental problems going forwards and the loss of their game manager and Märsylä before the season has started is a big blow for them. Whilst Jussi Korhonen is a great addition to the side, this simply wont be enough to put them in contention for a playoff spot.


New signings

Tommi Koivisto - Simon Kiri (Ykköspesis)

Jussi Korhonen -Sotkamon Jymy

***Misa Märsylä - Puijon Pesis (Ykköspesis)

 

Departures

Jusa Heikkinen - Simon Kiri (Ykköspesis)

Joonas Kauppinen - Simon Kiri (Ykköspesis)

Antti Väänänen - Simon Kiri (Ykköspesis)


*** this player will not play for Kempele in 2020



Kiteen Pallo -90

Kitee will be a little anxious at having lost Topi Hurskainen to local rivals Joensuu; however they have signed Joni Lehikoinen from Joensuu in return. Lehikoinen didnt get much game time whilst at Joensuu and hasn’t set the world alight in the Halli-SM games for Kitee either. His 8 successful hits (6 to 1st base) is a good start, but the team are still lacking in overall hitting.


Tommi Päivinen has been an exciting find for Kitee, having several years experience with Joensuu and IPV previously. Päivinen was 26th overall when it came to successful hits in Halli-SM in 2020, with 12 in total. Päivinen will likely have to do some of the heavy lifting when it comes to the regular season if Kitee are going to celebrate their anniversary year with another trip to the playoffs, in particular because the team has also lost Ville Kotro and Veli-Matti Sigvart due to funding issues.


Kitee are down in talent on their signings for 2020; however there is still a solid core in the team to build around. Kitee’s changes of repeating their 2019 successes are not favourable, but you probably would have said that in 2019 as well!


New signings

Joni Lehikoinen - Joensuun Maila

Tommi Päivinen - Ilomantsin Urheilijat (lower leagues)


Departures

Ville Hämäläinen - Imatran Pallo-Veikot

Topi Hurskainen - Joensuun Maila

**Ville Kotro - none

**Veli-Matti Sigvart - none


*** these players will not play for Kitee in 2020

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