Suomi Tour 2021: Game review Tahko v Manse PP 09.08.21

Hyvinkään Tahko v Manse PP, Tampere
0-1 (7-7, 3-12)

After seeing the Itä v Länsi game live, this is the first regular season game that I attended. Manse are in fine form coming into this game, having dominated the East lineup in the Allstar game with 5 selections! Whilst Tahko sat at 6th in the table coming into this game, this game starts a serious of tough matchups, made even tougher by the fact that regular pitcher Petteri Alanen remains out of the lineup through injury and Teemu Nikkanen returning from injury. In Alanen’s place, Joona Iivonen has made his Superpesis debut and steadily shows improvement at the plate.

Manse were heavy favourites coming into this game, but Tahko have proven this season that they can win against top teams, having beaten Joensuu (twice!), Vimpeli and (in their most recent match) KPL. Having watched the Itä v Länsi game live, the Manse players clearly stood out with superb performances - Tuomas Jussila’s leaping grab from a blisteringly fast line drive shows how super-human his reflexes are defensively. Juha Puhtimäki also had an outstanding game despite the windy conditions which will have impacted on his high pitches and performance at bat.

For Tahko, Kalle-Tapio Huusko continues to show great performance at bat and round the bases, now that he can focus on those areas and not on pitching. With Alanen injured, it was tempting to consider whether Huusko should resume the role of pitcher, but so far Miika Rantatorikka’s decision to slot Iivonen in that role has been a clear success.

So far as previous matchups between these two teams go, the only matchup worth analysing (due to manse’s significant shift in personnel in last year’s off-season) was the game that opened the season for the 2 teams on 4th June this year. Tahko lost the game 2-0 with significantly fewer 3rd base situations than Manse. A lot of time and development has gone on since that opening game, so this matchup promised to be an intriguing one. 

1st Jakso

Manse won the hutunkeitto and decided to put Tahko in to bat. Tahko failed to score in the 1st inning, although they came pretty close. Juha Korhonen hit the ball on his third strike to left field and saw NAME slide home, only to be disallowed on a late call as foul ball. In contrast, Manse immediately put a run on the board with Tuohisaari hitting a solo home run off the first pitch of the bottom of the inning. Juha Niemi made it 0-2 for the visitors after his hit to left field gave the home side no chance to stop Tuomas Jussila from scoring.

Tahko clawed a run back in the top of the second as Juha Korhonen’s hit to the shortstop ended in a wide throw that put Puhtimäki off balance as Teemu Nurmio scored. But the visitors came straight back with Henri Puputti hitting a 2 run kunniajuoksu (home run) with a line drive to deep right field that missed the outstretched glove of the outfielder.

In the top of the 3rd inning, a tight drive down the right foul line from Juha Korhonen opened the doors to a big rally; scoring a bases loaded home run. Mikko Haukkala picked the same line for a 2 run blast to give Tahko the lead 7-4. But Manse remained composed and slowly chipped away Tahko’s lead; first with Puhtimäki sending the ball to centre field, then Tobias Lilja found a fine gap that bounced awkwardly for 2 fielders to make it a one run game. Finally, Tuomas Jussila calmly planted the ball in left field to tie the jakso.

The 4th inning saw Tahko come up short and all eyes turned to Manse; however some focussed fielding and pitching saw Manse struggle to score for the first time in the game and as the final out of the jakso was announced, the score remained tied.

2nd Jakso

Having equalled the visitors in the first jakso, the mood in the stadium was still positive, but that energy started to fade as Puhtimäki opened the scoring with a 2 RBI double from a blistering shot to deep centre field, slipping through the glove of the outfielder and beyond the back boards. Severi Tikkakoski made it 0-3 with a routine line drive to right field. As Tahko came to the plate, it started to become clear that they were struggling to keep pace with Manse and the 2 run shot from Puhtimäki had signalled the beginning of a tough jakso for the home side.

In the 2nd inning, Juha Niemi launched the ball to left field and Timo Torppa found no trouble reaching home, after getting such a big jump from 3rd base. In contrast, Manse recorded two outs off a single hit in the bottom of the inning with runners failing to reach 2nd and 1st base. With only one out, Manse stacked Puputti on 3rd base and Puhtimäki on 2nd base, as the outfielder risked the throw to 3rd base rather than take the easy out at 2nd. Things then started to go from bad to worse for Tahko in the 3rd inning, as Juha Niemi scored a 2 RBI double off a fielding error by Kall-Tapio Huusko, as the ball whizzed through his glove along the right foul line. Puputti and Puhtimäki came back round batting and tacked on 2 more runs as Tahko seemed broken.

Manse kept their foot firmly on the accelerator pedal in the 4th inning with 4 more runs, including a wild throw to 2nd base giving Tuomas Tuohisaari the chance to score. With the game all but over, Tahko seemed to relax a bit and out of nowhere, Patrik Vartama scored a solo home run on a ball that got the better of 2 fielders. Moments later Kalle-Tapio Huusko brought home Vartama from 3rd base on a hit that caught Jussila in the face. Santa Patova made it 3-12 for the home side, but they started to crumble once more under the pressure, leaving Manse with the win.

Analysis

In analysing the game, its hard to say exactly when Tahko started to struggle. From the start, Manse were more consistent and more threatening; but the magical 6 run haul in the 3rd inning shows the potential Tahko has. Despite going toe to toe in the first jakso, it started to feel like Tahko were dejected when Manse scored to start the second jakso. A serious of hard hits in all the right places, mixed with unforced and long errors piled more and more pressure on the home side. Only when the game was (realistically) beyond their reach were they able to play more openly and comfortably. As soon as their rally started in the 4th inning of the second jakso however, the pressure seemed to come back and Tahko crumbled.

Manse are a tough team to go up against, especially when there is so much open space in the backfield. For Manse, this became target practice - after the first jakso was tied, they were only going to lose out on their average points per game. For Tahko, this game makes the first of 3 difficult matchups, with Sotkamo and Vimpeli on the horizon. The goal for Tahko here will be to put this game behind them and focus on getting points against their next opponents. The crunch match however will be on 18th August, when Tahko play against Seinäjoki.

Aside from the result itself - it was a pleasure to finally make it to Pihkala, after 2 years of planning and cancelled trips.

                                                                  

Game stats