Around the league - 7th July 2020
 |
| Sotkamo pull out all the stops to beat Vimpeli |
Sotkamon Jymy v Vimpelin Veto
2-0 (3-2, 5-0)
This matchup is known as “El Klassiko” due to the recent rivalry between the 2 teams and the engrossing and exciting finals they played each other in. With Sotkamo and Vimpeli both losing on opening day and in a state of rebuilding, they are far from the classic days now gone by. Having said that, this match up is still widely anticipated and both teams are striving to knock Joensuu off their throne as champions. Sotkamo won the series of practice games in the lead up to the regular season; however this game has more at stake. In head-to head games Sotkamo won all 3 of their 2019 games; however 2018 was all Vimpeli, who won 4 out of 5 games.
 |
| Rytkönen flew around the bases to score a home run in the first jakso |
The second jakso started slowly, but Sotkamo put a marker down with 2 unanswered runs in the 2nd inning. Antti Korhonon’s bunt RBI was followed by Konsta Kurikka’s bouncing hit being misfielded and turning the score to 2-0. Sotkamo added to their lead in the 3rd inning with 2 more runs. Niilo Piiponniemi stretched out a double from a bouncing hit down the left foul line that gave Antti Korhonen the set up to bring him home. Antti’s bunt hit was chased dow by Lukkari, Perttu Ruuska and was a straight race to home base with the Sotkamo leadoff man. Lauri Rönkkö made it 4-0 with a looping hit that found a gap just left of centre field. The final run of the game came in the 4th inning from Konsta Kurikka’s hit to give him 3 RBI in the game.
Antti Korhonen is starting to look more comfortable batting 4th and had a solid game. He was 4/5 overall at moving the point runner, with 2 RBIs from 2 attempts and 2 runs to his name. Niilo Piiponniemi also maintained a threat around the bases going 6/8 overall and reaching home to score 3 times. For me however, the big moment for Sotkamo came with Joni Rytkönen’s solo home run to clinch the first jakso, after this Sotkamo applied more and more pressure until the score line was all of a sudden 5-0 and the game well and truly out of reach.
The stats told the tale of the two teams and Sotkamo’s 60% success rate was significantly higher than Vimpeli’s 43%. The most telling statistic was the 3rd base conversion rate, where Sotkamo brought 8 out of 13 runners home to score (61.5%) compared to Vimpeli’s 2 out of 8 (25%). Olli Heikkala’s 12% success rate at moving the point runner was a big blow for Vimpeli who needed some solid numbers to match those of their hosts. Matias Rinto-ahh was also absent from the scoreboard and Sotkamo prevented him from having any effect on the game. As a positive, Perttu Ruuska put up decent numbers going 4/4 at moving runners from 2nd to 3rd base.
Vimpeli now head to Seinäjoki with hopes of bringing their 2020 season back on track with a win, whereas Sotkamo set off for Siilinjärvi with a spring in their step.
SoJy - Veto2 - 0 (3-2, 5-0)
Yleisöä: 1497
Elsewhere in the league
KPL continued their bid for a championship year with a solid win over Hyvinkää at Pihkala. Runs came from up and down the lineup for KPL, including 2 runs batted in for Jere Dahlström and Sasu Toikka. Hyvinkää however could not capitalise on their chances and veteran hard-hitter Juha Korhonen couldn’t make an impression on the scoreboard.
IPV hosted Kitee for a re-match of last week’s defeat at Rantakenttä. In fact it was deja vu all over again when the first jakso was tied 2 all and the fact that it was Juho Toivola that brought Jani Raami home to open the scoring in both games added to the sensation. The result it would seem also followed the previous game, with Kitee picking up the win and leaving IPV to scratch their heads. IPV will be frustrated to walk away from this game with no points when they had more 3rd base situations (14 compared to Kitee’s 9) and a better success rate at moving the point runner (59% compared to 50% for Kitee). The fact that Mikko Kosonen and Ville Hämäläinen failed to bring runners home from a combined 4 attempts was significant.
 |
| Manse snatch victory from the jaws of defeat |
Joensuu got back to winning ways with a solid performance against Siilinjärvi at Kerubi. SiiPe were outmuscled by the reigning champions who set out to erase last weeks defeat to IPV and start their title defence in earnest.
PattU struggled to maintain in control o their game against a surprisingly solid Kempele. Pattijoki won the first jakso 4-3 but the second jakso was scoreless and cost the home team the chance to take the full 3 points.
Koskenkorva’s woes continued as they suffered a 3 point loss to local rivals Seinäjoki. Koskenkorva are one of the teams many people suggest could end up towards the bottom of the table this year and in fact are the only team so far not to have picked up a point.
7th July 2020
Hyvinkään Tahko v Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat
0-2 (2-6, 1-3)
Joensuun Maila v Siilinjärven Pesis
2-0 (5-1, 4-1)
Kankaanpään Maila v Manse PP, Tampere
1-2k (3-2, 3-4, 0-0, 0-3)
Seinäjoen JymyJussit v Koskenkorvan Urheilijat
2-0 (2-0, 8-5)
Pattijoen Urheilijat, Raahe v Kempeleen Kiri
1-0 (4-3, 0-0)
Imatran Pallo-Veikot v Kiteen Pallo -90
0-1 (2-2, 2-3)
Photographs
Cover - (c) Sotkamon Jymy 2020
Photograph 2 - (c) Sotkamon Jymy 2020
Photograph 3 - (c) Manse PP, Tampere 2020
Comments
Post a Comment