Kouvola and Manse secured their place in the semi-finals of the men’s Superpesis
Kouvola’s Ballonlöjien men were the first team to secure their place in the Superpesis semi-finals. KPL, the runner-up in the regular league, beat Kiteen Pallo with three straight wins after taking a 2–0 home win on Thursday (12–0, 4–3).
KPL’s power men in the shutout game were the batsmen, who scored five runs Patrik Vartama (at 7/8) and a five-run homer Teemu Nikkanen (at 6/11).
– This was a clinical match series. We had to defend hard on the beach field, but the home games were handled clearly. Now we get at least one day more rest than the opponent. Home advantage is a tough thing, commented the KPL game director who led Kempeleen Kiri to the SC bronze medal last season Petri Tuuva.
Regular season winner Manse PP didn’t take many minutes further than the Kouvola team to secure a place in the medal games. The people of Tampere crushed the Pattijoki Urheilijat also without overtime after the end of the third meeting to Mansen’s home win 2–0 (5–2, 2–0).
The heroes of Mansen’s work were the two-run double Henri Puputti (at 6/7) and brought in three runs Juuso Myllyniemi (at 6/8).
Sotkamo and Vimpeli are a win away from the semi-finals
Sotkamon Jymy, third in the regular season, gets a spot in the semi-finals for Friday at Mehtimäki in Joensuu. Jymy took the lead in the match series with a 2–1 victory after defeating Joensuu Maila 2–1 (1–5, 12–2, 3–1). The decision of the three-way match was struck by a municipal hitter worth three (1+2) runs in the tying second inning of the super inning Alexander Huotari.
Vimpelin Veto also leads its match series against Kempeleen Kiri 2–1, while Saarikent saw Veto’s victory 1–0 (3–3, 7–4). The hero of the home team was the joker who cleared the third corner of the starting line in the last inning of the second period (1+3) Jukka-Pekka Vainionpää.
In the lower playoffs, the decision to directly retain the series place stretched to five games, when Alajärvi’s Ankkurit evened the wins against Hamina’s Ballers with a home win 2–1 (5–1, 1–2, 4–2). The loser of the match played in Hamina on Saturday will have to defend their place in the league in the qualifiers against the winner of Ykköspesis.