Finnish-rules baseball titles go to Hyvinkää and Jyväskylä

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Finland's traditional #1 summer sport is Finnish-rules baseball, known locally as pesäpallo. The season wound up at the weekend with victories going to Hyvinkää in the men's final and Jyväskylä among the women.
      Tahko from Hyvinkää took their first men's title for 26 years on Saturday, when they beat Sotkamo 3-1 in the final over the best of five matches. For Simo Eerikäinen it was an emotional moment: the 37-year-old had previously won six runners-up silver medals during a long career with the bat.
     
On Sunday it was the turn of Kirittäret from Jyväskylä to wrap up victory in the women's competition.
      In their case it was a rather more routine affair: the team from Central Finland were also champions in 2005 and 2006, and this year they beat Seinäjoki 3-0 in the best-of-five finals.
     
Finnish-rules baseball is primarily a sport of the provinces, with smaller towns often providing the biggest clubs, both in terms of success and local support.
      Around 4,500 turned out on Saturday to see Tahko win the title. In recent years, victory in the men's event has gone to teams from small eastern towns such as Kitee (1999, 2000, 2005) or Sotkamo (2001-2004, 2006). Sotkamo, for instance, are one of the giants of the sport, for all that the community has a population of barely 10,000.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Sotkamo seals Finnish-rules baseball title (25.9.2006)

Links:
  Pesäpallo (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat