Superpesis roundup

Could we see Oulu or Jyväskylä in Superpesis next year? With SiiPe claiming victory by the narrowest of margins in a 5 game series against Hamina, they join Kankaanpää in their quest to stay in superpesis next season by playing the top 2 teams from Ykköspesis. The winners of the 2 series will qualify for Superpesis next year, the losers will play in Ykköspesis in 2022. (13) Kankaanpää v (Y2) Jyväskylän Lohi   Kankaanpää weathered the storm in the regular season and despite a tough schedule at the start of the season managed to cling on to 13th place and avoid the elimination series. Their place in Superpesis next season is not safe and they will have to beat Lohi to secure it. Jyväskylä is the home town of pesäpallo’s creator, Lauri “Tahko” Pihkala, as well as being a significant centre for Pesis since its creation, with the city hosting a women’s time that has won the last 3 championships; so it would be a fitting tribute for them to be in Superpesis in the 100 anniversary sea...

The game officials meet before the game at the legendary Vallikenttä in Hamina Haminan Palloilijat v Kankaanpään Maila 1-0 (3-1, 5-5) My final game review of my Suomi Tour was perhaps the most unexpected. I had not planned to see any games on 20th, as I didn’t think I would have time; however I became available and had the opportunity to visit the iconic stadium at Hamina to watch the game against Kankaanpään Maila. This game comes as the season is drawing to a close and both teams are in need of points. Hamina ideally seek to get enough points to take home field advantage in the elimination series against (almost inevitably) SiiPe. For Kankaanpää, the aim is to avoid the relegation battle completely. Hamina have had a tough start to the season, with injuries playing a key part in the teams poor form. When the team had to self-isolate due to a positive covid result, there was a chance to reset. A change of game manager too has given Hamina a much needed boost. In the games leading ...

Vimpeli blank KPL to show that they are a force to be reckoned with As the chances to make it into the top 8 are running out for most teams, it’s time to get to make a final push for the end of the season. Here are last week’s performance rankings: 1st Vimpelin Veto Vimpeli have been an interesting project to watch this season and the pieces have been coming together for some time. Despite some losses to teams like Kankaanpää, which have been tough to explain, Vimpeli proved that they are the full package and are capable of anything this season when they beat KPL 2-0 at home and stopped KPL from scoring in the entire game. Perttu Ruuska is performing extremely well at the plate and as a pitcher. Vimpeli’s explosive offence has left teams on the back foot against a very challenging defence. The only question that remains is how will they perform against Joensuun, who they won’t face in the regular season. 2nd Kiteen Pallo-90 Kitee continue to be the most exciting development for 2...

Manse celebrate with a 3 point win over Kankaanpää Kankaanpään Maila v Manse PP, Tampere 0-2 (1-3, 2-3) Kankaanpää have had some positive results so far this season, but Manse have also impressed in their debut season in Superpesis. Kankaanpää took a narrow victory over Manse only a few days ago and went on to take 3 points from a home win agains Kitee. Manse however recorded their first Superpesis win away to Kankaanpää on 7th July, so came looking for another victory. Whilst both of these teams lie at the bottom end of the table, they both have aspirations of making it into the playoffs this year and are playing with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. For much of the season, Manse’s Juuso Myllyniemi has led the league in successful hits and is a key component of Manse’s offence.  It was the home team who registered the first run in the first jakso, thanks to Miikka Riikonen’s looping hit to deep right field, giving Jouni Itävalo time to reach home and beat the throw. Manse resp...

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 ...

Joensuu overcome their early set backs and turned on a big performance last week With several weeks of the season now played, teams are starting to find their places in the league and learn which teams they are competing for position against. Here are last weeks performance rankings. 1st Joensuun Maila Finding form and meeting high expectations can be daunting when you have a new game manager and there have been some significant players come and go from a team. Joensuu found themselves under pressure to perform and meet the level of performance that the media, fans and other teams expected - last week things started to click in to place. Joensuu’s victory over KPL that ended their unbeaten record was huge and contributed 3 points to their 8 in total from last week. 2nd Sotkamon Jymy Sotkamo remain steadily in 2nd in our performance rankings, with 3 points over IPV and PattU; however their game against Kempele last week showed that teams lower in the league still have the ability...

Miikka Riikonen dominated the game with 5 runs batted in Featured game Kankaanpään Maila v Hyvinkään Tahko 2-0 (3-2, 5-4) Only 2 days before, Hyvinkää opened the season with a 2-0 win over Kankaanpää in which they conceded no runs. This match looked to be either a replay of opening day or a chance for Kankaanpää to get revenge. The conditions were not ideal to say the least, with heavy rain throughout the game. Kankaanpää had only won 2 of the las 5 games between he 2 teams, both being from supervuoro (extra inning), the other 3 games were 2-0 wins for Hyvinkää. Since the Halli-SM games earlier this year, big changes have taken place at Hyvinkää, with their game manager being replaced with CEO Miika Rantotorikka and Markus Tuikka leaving the club.    In the damp conditions it was Hyvinkää who scored first, with Matias Kauppinen bringing Juha Korhonen home as the throw from Kankaanpää’s midfield line was bundled at home by Lukkari Joona Lehtinen. The mistake was soon rec...