Superpesis roundup

If Rantakenttä was the field of dreams, Pihkala felt like the stuff of nightmares for Tahko’s poor defence Places 6-9 At the lower end of the top 8 there was a real scramble for the final playoff spots. This post  focuses on places 6 to 9 as they finished in the regular season and considers how 6th to 8th place performed in the postseason. Some general observations for 6th to 9th place: Hyvinkää had a wild ride this season, with moments that looked like they would be firmly out of the top 8 and talks of being a potential top 4 team. If there was one word that gave any Tahko fan a cold chill it was “defence”. In a park that has such wide open spaces beyond the outfield, Pihkala can become your own worst enemy if you have a leaky defence. The signs were there from the very build up to the season, with training games against KPL and Manse showing some fundamental flaws. But Hyvinkää have a pretty resilient batting lineup and with veteran Juha Korhonen leading the charge, they coul...

Sotkamo were top of the class this year, but their performance wasn’t all plain sailing Places 1-5 Now that the season has finished, it is take to take a look back at how the teams performed in 2020. This first post focuses on the top 5 as they finished in the regular season and considers how they performed in the postseason. Some general observations for the top 5: Joensuu had the world at their feet coming into the postseason, and they feared no opponents. With a winning streak that went to 23 games in total, they looked almost unstoppable, only their local rivals (Kitee) proved to be a challenge. But the bubble burst with a short series against KPL who unlocked Joensuu’s defence at Kerubi in game 1 and Joensuu imploded, losing to KPL and the bronze series to Vimpeli. There was clearly a lot of expectation in the Joensuu ranks, as there had been all year, but a spirited KPL were determined to seize the moment. The moment however may never have been, if Kitee had clinched the se...

How times have changed... Koskenkorva are playing well, but it wasn’t alway that way What kind of season has it been for Koskenkorva? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” or should that be the other way round when it comes to Koskenkorva? For a team that sat in 14th place week after week at the beginning of the season, with a troubling 0 points scored, the season seems to have taken an unexpected turn for KoU, who now sit at 8th in the league and are causing problems for big teams. ... the worst of times The start of the season was a disaster for Koskenkorva with 0 points in 5 games, despite having amongst their ranks the league leader in RBI and July’s player of the month - Patrik Wahlsten. The outfield was leaking runs like a sieve and Wahlsten seemed to be the only player who could generate runs. The fortunes changed in a close run game against newly promoted Manse, and a 2 point win finally broke the back of their scoreless season. The best of times... Af...

KPL, Sotkamo and Joensuu all have a chance to finish 1st Full predictions This post will look at the full picture of the league and analyse the projected positions of teams based on calculations as well as my own personal thoughts. Who will take the top spot? The calculations half way through the season suggested that it could be any of the top 4 teams that will finish 1st this season, where they could equally also finish anywhere in the top 4. When this season’s new format was announced, I did a post analysing which teams would benefit from the changes; I predicted that the top 4 teams would have better results overall and would benefit - the analysis so far this season suggests that I was right, although this could be down to a number of factors. The most likely candidate for 1st place is now Sotkamo; however KPL could take top spot if they play the same as they did in the first half of the season. My personal view is Joensuu will finish first in the table, but only if they contin...

Places 10-14 With no threat of relegation this season, their is a sense of relief amongst teams at the lower end of the table, but with half of the season left to play, teams are still pushing for a playoff spot or a chance to finish ahead of their rivals. The results and performances used to calculate positions are up to 3rd August 2020. Some general observations for places 10-14: There are 2 teams in this group that have some serious chances at making a play for a playoff spot - Hyvinkää and IPV. The other 3 teams are jostling to avoid being the team at the very bottom of the table, but are capable of making it into the top 8, in particular Koskenkorva.  Koskenkorva has one of the greatest assets in Superpesis - Patrik Wahlsten, but his talents had been wasted at the start of the season with poor performances by the rest of the team that saw Koskenkorva sit bottom of the table with no points until fairly recently. Now they have broken their 0 points season, Koskenkorva have...

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 ...

It’s time for the team’s mid-season reviews - who is top of the class? Who has to stay behind and study harder? Places 1-5 Usually I would give each team a mid-season review at the East v West game, but the end of July this year seemed like a good natural point (or rather 2nd August). I will cover this in 3 separate posts rather than all 14 teams in one go. Some general observations for the top 5: In my opinion you can split these into Joensuu, Sotkamo and KPL (serious contenders), Vimpeli (outside contenders), Seinäjoki (doing “good enough”). I would be very surprised if Joensuu don't make the final and equally socked if their opponents aren’t either KPL or Sotkamo. If anyone is going to spoil that party it is going to be Vimpeli - I just don’t see Seinäjoki as championship material this year, although I have been somewhat impressed with some of their performances. Joensuu has had the benefit of playing both KPL and Sotkamo so far this season, whereas KPL and Sotkamo will not meet...

Who will make Superpesis Roundup’s 2019 Dream Team Photograph from Sotkamo Facebook (c) Sotkamon Jymy 2019 Superpesis Roundup Dream Team With 2019 coming to a close, we here at Superpesis Roundup have put together our dream team for the year. The teams highlighted are the teams the players played for in 2019 and are not necessarily their current club. The dream team has been chosen after carefully looking at the players statistics, how they performed in their team’s lineup and their fielding positions. The 2019 lineup is: Batting order Tommi Mäentausta (KPL) Joni Rytkönen (Sotkamon Jymy) Antti Hartikainen (KPL) Teemu Nurmio (IPV) Tuomas Jussila (Joensuun Maila) Juha Puhtimäki (Joensuun Maila) Olli Heikkala (Vimpelin Veto) Sami Haapakoski (Vimpelin Veto) Antti Korhonen (Sotkamon Jymy) Jokers Jukka-Pekka Vainionpää (Seinäjoen JymyJussit) Roope Korhonen (Sotkamon Jymy) Topi Hurskainen (Kiteen Pallo -90) Batting 1st - Outfielder Tommi Mäentau...