Mid-season evaluation and review part 2


Places 6-9

Outside of the top 4 (or even 5) there are a pack of teams scrambling for the final playoff spots. In part 2 of this series I look at the teams at the heart of this battle and consider how they stack up.


Some general observations for places 6-9: There are some welcome surprises in the hunt for a playoff spot, such as Kempele and Kitee; however this will be a fight that goes right to the very end of the season. Kitee have started well this season, but they are starting to show their true selves at this point in the season and have fallen down the table. Kitee remain (in my opinion) a good contender for the playoffs and are likely to find that spark that they had at the beginning of the season as we get closer to September. Kempele are also in great shape to make the top 8, so long as they can keep outscoring the runs they concede in the field. Kempele are a slick organisation and their media team on game day is one of the best in the league - for entertainment value, you cannot get better than KeKi. Whilst this may seem anecdotal, the attitude and atmosphere off the field can lift even the most low energy teams.


Pattijoki are in trouble this season and are just not taking control of games that they should. The injury problems at PattU has dented their chances, but their offence was struggling before that. Pattijoki need to steady the ship and get a few more 3 point wins in the coming games to give them the confidence to go on. If PattU do make the playoffs they will be a team no one will feel comfortable playing, because they have such experience and skill in their ranks to beat almost any team in any game. Pattijoki are a safe bet to make the playoffs, but to some extent this depends on how the teams around them in the table perform - if Kempele and Kitee both put up big performances PattU could fall into a scrap with teams like Kankaanpää, IPV or Hyvinkää (who are itching to get back in to the top 8).


Kankaanpää are muddling through the season, but don’t show much prospect of making it high into the table. A top 8 finish is very much up for grabs; however they will need to find a way to win some of the tough games (like they did at home to Hyvinkää) if they want to secure a place in the playoffs. 


In my last post I wrote that I would analyse the relationship between Seinäjoki in 5th place and the teams immediately below them. In my opinion, Seinäjoki are just too good to be pushed out of 5th place by the likes of Kitee or Kempele. The biggest threats to Seinäjoki taking 5th place is Pattijoki or even Hyvinkää (if they can get their season back on track). Seinäjoki have one key advantage in the battle for 5th over PattU, the fact that their offence is fairly consistent and Jukka-Pekka Vainionpää is putting up good numbers. In comparison, Pattijoki are struggling to get consistent scores and let teams start bullying them in games; whilst PattU may come out with the win, they struggle to take 3 points (in fact only 1 of their 7 wins was a 3 point win). I cannot see anyone else sitting at 5th in the table, Seinäjoki cannot keep pace with the top 4, but nobody around them in the table can overtake them either.


6th Pattijoen Urheilijat, Raahe

There was a lot of excitement about PattU this year with the return of the legendary Sami Haapakoski, especially off the back of a great Halli-SM tournament at the start of the year. As things stand, PattU have struggled to really take hold of any of their games and have a fairly average record. They were the last team in the top 8 to win both jakso in a game, which has impacted on their ability to score points in the table. A big blow for PattU was the season ending injury to veteran hard hitter Jari Törmänen; however the team was struggling before that. PattU have the 3rd lowest runs scored so far this season.

Current place in table: 6th

Estimated final position: 9th (don’t blame me - blame the calculations)

Comment: Capable of so much more. Must show much more consistency across both periods in the game or could fail the class.

Overall grade:    

C-



7th Kempeleen Kiri

After a major victory over Sotkamo in their season opener, Kempele shocked many critics by putting up further outstanding performances. Whilst Kempele are not the finished article yet and many games have highlighted their vulnerability at conceding big runs, it is worth remembering that this is their 3rd year in Superpesis and they are still building their team. Kempele have the 4th highest scoring offence in the league with 105 runs scored over 13 games, but have conceded a whopping 104 runs. 

Current place in table: 7th

Estimated final position: 6th

Comment: A wonderful year for Kempele. Must work harder to stop their opponent scoring and they can go far.

Overall grade:    

B



8th Kiteen Pallo -90

Kitee’s start to the season has been considered as one of the biggest positive surprises this season; however the team’s limitations have caught up with them and they have only scored 1 point in the last 4 games, seeing them drop from 4th down to 8th in the table. The highlight of the season so far was the supervuoro win against Joensuu, but things are starting to look a little rough for KiPa in their anniversary season.

Current place in table: 8th

Estimated final position: 7th

Comment: Had a good start to the season but seems to have lost focus. Needs to pay more attention in class and get back to their performance at the start of the season.

Overall grade:    

B-


9th Kankaanpään Maila

Kankaanpää seem to punctuate poor performances with some fantastic moments that earn them wins. KaMa have a fairly 2 dimensional offence, which focuses on Miikka Riikonen slogging for the big runs, but they give away too many chances at scoring and concede too many runs to compete for the win in most of their games. Having said that, some of Riikonen’s hits have been almost poetic in the way they have split the outfield. Kankaanpää have had some good solid 3 point wins against Hyvinkää and Seinäjoki, but they are simply out-gunned against teams contending for the top of the table.

Current place in table: 9th

Estimated final position: 10th 

Comment: Having a good season in some ways, but will struggle with more difficult tasks.

Overall grade:    

C

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