Around the league - 7th August 2020
Koskenkorvan Urheilijat v Kempeleen Kiri
2-0 (5-4, 3-1)
The fortunes of these two teams have been very different at the start of this season; Kempele started the season with a remarkable win over Sotkamo, followed up with a string of high-offence games. Koskenkorva on the other hand have had little to show for their star player’s success at bat, even Patrik Wahlsten couldn’t get KoU a point until their 6th game of the season. Both teams however have seen plenty of runs scored in their games, both for and against. Koskenkorva are in fine form going into this game, having started to pick up points. The matchup historically favours Koskenkorva as well, with Kempele only winning 1 of the last 5 meetings, which was at the beginning of this season. Kempele had been reeling in the points recently, with 3 wins out of the last 4 games.
Considering both teams have powerful offences this year, Kempele wasted no time in putting runs on the board. In the first inning of the game, Marko Pelkonen struck a hard line drive to right field allowing Heikki Savikoski to score. Janne Luhtavaara extended Kempele’s lead as a looping hit to left field was misfielded and saw Onni Määttä score. Luhtavara made it 2 RBI from him in the inning when a line drive found a gap in the infield. Koskenkorva had no trouble in responding to Kempele’s early onslaught and the pressure mounted on the visitors who gave up their first run from a wild throw that saw KoU’s Otto Kauppinen score from first base! The throw was wide of Kempele’s second baseman by some margin and the home fans erupted. Miikka Anttila’s 3 run home run (kunniajuoksu) came from a high hit that somehow landed in centre field in between the outfielders to give KoU the lead. The hit should have been fielded and probably caught, but Kempele’s outfield were so static, it made the hit look more aggressive than it was. Patrik Wahlsten gave Koskenkorva an insurance run in the 2nd inning with a routine hit to centre field, beyond the midfield line. Despite stating the game with a bang, Kempele were starting to run out of steam and needed to bring the game back under their control. Matti Korhonen gave Kempele heir 4th run in the 3rd inning with a hit so deep to right field Onni Määttä practically walked to home plate. Despite this, Kempele couldn’t overcome the score line and they lost the first jakso 5-4 - the Miikka Anttila home run haunting them.
The second jakso started with both teams in deadlock - after a scoreless first inning, Koskenkorva got things going in the 2nd inning with Patrik Wahlsten bringing Otto Kauppinen round to score from a soft hit to 3rd base. in the bottom of the inning, Kempele came back at Koskenkorva to tie the jakso 1-1, with Ossi Meriläinen’s line drive to centre field finding a gap just beyond the midfield line, bringing Valtteri Kleemola home to score. The momentum shifted back in favour of the home team in the 3rd inning when Otto Kauppinen attempted to steal 3r base and rushed a throw from Pitcher to 2nd base then 2nd to 3rd, only to see it go wide of the mark and give Kauppinen the time to dust himself off and sprint for home; 2-1 to Koskenkorva. Patrik Wahlsten sealed the win for Koskenkorva with a well placed hit that just beat Kempele’s 1st baseman to the midfield line and saw Jaakko Erkkilä score. From then, Kempele simply couldn't get back into the game and failed to get their offence flowing again.
Koskenkorva dominated in 3rd base situations (16 compared to Kempele’s 9); however it was the fielding errors and wild throws that really cost Kempele the game. Koskenkorva scored twice from wild throws and the Miikka Anttila home run seemed avoidable if Kempele’s outfielders had been more active in reaching the fly ball to centre field. Patrik Wahlsten had a solid day at the plate, with 3 RBI from 6 attempts, but his performance was shadowed by Miikka Anttila’s 3 RBI and 77% overall success rate at moving the point runner. Leadoff hitter Otto Kauppinen enjoyed a good performance with 3 runs and 5 successful hits at reaching 1st base from 6 attempts. Kempele had little to shout about, with a 49% overall success rate at moving the point runner. Whilst Pitcher and leadoff hitter Jani Lassila made it to 1st base 4 times out of 8, nobody could successfully bring him home to score.
Koskenkorva dug deep to win this one and claim 3 points as a result. If KoU want to challenge for a playoff spot they will need to keep winning games like this and overcome their poor start to the season. There is a great deal of competition for the playoff spots this year, with SiiPe and Manse also putting in outstanding performances against big teams. Wahlsten remains Koskenkorva’s main driving force at bat, but they have to tighten up their defence - 3 runs in the 1st inning of the game could have buried them if they were playing against a solid defence, fortunately Kempele’s defence is equally as flimsy. My comments on Koskenkorva are also true of Kempele, the 3 run home run in the 1st inning looked entirely avoidable and came from a high hit that should have been caught. Obviously the speed the ball is coming to you looks much slower on TV than it is in the outfield (as my co-host and former outfielder Mikko Pirhonen says), but Kempele were just too static to react and it didn’t look as if there was a clear idea who was supposed to field the ball. We are talking fractions of a second, but in this instance it cost them the jakso and ultimately the game. Kempele have a strong offence up and down the lineup and had some good results so far this season, so they have a very real possibility of reaching the top 8.
Koskenkorvan Urheilijat
| # | Pelaaja | Up | Ly | Tu | KL | 1% | 2% | 3% | K% | KL % | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kempeleen Kiri
| # | Pelaaja | Up | Ly | Tu | KL | 1% | 2% | 3% | K% | KL % | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elsewhere in the league
6th August
Hyvinkää made a big stride forwards in their 1-0 win over Seinäjoki. Despite having one of the highest totals for runs scored against, Hyvinkää held JymyJussit to just 1 run in the second jakso. The 2 points lifted Hyvinkää back towards a top 8 spot and redemption for what has been (so far) a tough season.
Kitee put a marker down early in their 3 point win over IPV, scoring 7 unanswered runs in the 1st inning and limiting the Reds to just 1 run throughout the game. Kitee are developing 2 very promising pitchers with very different styles of play, Ville Liukku (who pitched in this game) and Jesse Eskelainen (who also bats as leadoff hitter in numerous games).
Sotkamo’s first jakso against Pattijoki saw a steady stream of runs in their favour, building up a 6-1 score line. Despite some solid bating, the only run in the second jakso came from the bat of Sotkamo’s Lauri Rönkkö to secure 3 points and the win. Aapo Komulainen had a solid performance as pitcher and limited PattU to just 1 run across 8 innings, backed up by some decent defensive work from his teammates.
7th August
SiiPe’s win over Kempele clearly gave them some more confidence and led them to another tight game against Vimpeli. Whilst Siilinjärvi picked up a vital point, they almost picked up the win. Whilst rotation of players is the theme of this condensed season, the gamble very nearly didn’t pay off for Vimpeli, who lost to SiiPe in their last matchup.
Joensuu struggled to put Kankaanpää down in a narrow win at Kerubi. After the first jakso was tied at 3-3, Joensuu took command of the second jakso with a 3 run lead; however Arttu Ruuska’s RBI gave JoMa fans some concern for a last minute rally in the 4th inning. The rally however never came and Joensuu breathed a sigh of relief, picking up 2 points for the win.
Manse and KPL have had an interesting series this season and the games have been hotly contested. This game was also down to the wire as well, with just 1 run separating the 2 teams across the 2 periods of the game. Manse even had a greater percentage at successfully moving the point runner, 64% overall, compared to KPL’s 58%. Ultimately it was the bat of the legendary Jere Dahlström that won the day for KPL, scoring all 4 RBI for the visitors.
Dahlström lifts KPL over a feisty Manse team for the win
6th August 2020
Hyvinkään Tahko v Seinäjoen JymyJussit
1-0 (6-6, 4-1)
Kiteen Pallo -90 v Imatran Pallo-Veikot
2-0 (8-0, 2-1)
Sotkamon Jymy v Pattijoen Urheilijat, Raahe
2-0 (6-1, 1-0)
7th August 2020
Vimpelin Veto v Siilinjärven Pesis
2-1k (2-3, 11-7, 0-0, 4-3)
Joensuun Maila v Kankaanpään Maila
1-0 (3-3, 4-2)
Manse PP, Tampere v Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat
0-1 (2-2, 1-2)
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