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...

Can Hamina turn their fortunes around and break SiiPe’s home record? Whilst the spotlight is on the top 8, the most intriguing matchup is the elimination series between SiiPe and Hamina. The loser will be relegated, the winner will have the change to stay in Superpesis if they can beat the league leaders in Ykköspesis (which will be either Oulu or Kuopio).   (14) SiiPe v (15) Hamina SiiPe start this series coming off the back of a remarkably up and down season. Siilinjärvi have beaten the likes of KPL, KiPa, Seinäjoki and Tahko - all at home. In fact, their home record has been so much at odds with their away record, that their points won from home games was 13 (an average of 0.93 per game) and points won from away games was a disastrous 2 (an average of 0.17).  On the other side, Hamina have struggled to reach their potential in 2021, mostly as a result of a series of injuries to Sasu Toikka and Matias Hangasmaa, but the lost opportunities and games where points were gi...

SiiPe couldn’t break open Roihu’s much improved defense and struggled to create scoring opportunities Roihuttaret, Helsinki v Siilinjärven Pesis 2-0 (2-1, 2-1) On Sunday it was time to venture back out to the east end of Helsinki for another regular season game in women’s Superpesis. This game was between Roihuttaret and Siilinjärven Pesis. Much like the last matchup against MyVe, this was an important game for both teams, who are looking to stay up in Superpesis next season. After Roihu’s win over MyVe on Friday, they were in 10th place going into this game, with a 6 point lead over 12th place SiiPe.  The last time these two teams met, Roihu won the game in a supervuoro after winning the first jakso, only to fade in the second. For SiiPe, this was a “must win” game, with games against Seinäjoen Maila-Jussit and Kirittaret looking likely to be flat out losses. SiiPe’s last point came against Pori 4 days previously, so SiiPe were not to be underestimated (especially if errors s...

Hyvinkää storm back into the top 8 with key wins over IPV and KPL There was one result last week that changed as a result of an ineligible player. This has a significant impact on teams at the top and bottom of the performance rankings, so I have had to apply a bit of thought to how to deal with the Siilinjärvi v Koskenkorva result... 1st Hyvinkään Tahko Hyvinkää needed a big performance to lift themselves up into the playoff spots and last week they certainly got that. With 2 wins from 2 games, scoring 5 out of a possible 6 points, this was a solid week for Tahko - especially when you realise that one win came against KPL. Pihkala is known for its run scoring potential and so far this season Hyvinkää had struggled to stop their opponents exploiting this and have the most runs conceded in the league. Last week however they managed to power past both KPL and IPV with Juha Korhonen’s 7 RBI against IPV and Teemu Nikkanen’s perfect 8/8 at moving the point runner, including 4 RBI agains...

  Kitee power past SiiPe as they close in on 4th in the table Siilinjärven Pesis v Kiteen Pallo -90 0-2 (2-5, 0-3) This is an interesting matchup and comes at a time when Kitee and SiiPe are in good form. Kitee had won 3 straight games until their narrow kotiutuskilpailu loss to Joensuu on Tuesday this week. Their wins included a big win against KPL that came as a kick start to their second half of the season. Coming into this game Kitee are 5th in the league and looking to cement their place in the playoffs. SiiPe have won 2 of their last 4 games 2-0 and narrowly lost to Vimpeli in a scoring contest. Despite SiiPe sitting at the bottom of the table, they are only 6 points behind 7th and 8th place. In the last meeting between these 2 teams (which was also a featured game on the blog), Kitee won 1-0 after failing to capitalise on winning the first jakso.  In the buildup to the game however, the Pesäpallo Association announced that the result on 11th August between SiiPe and...