Puna-Mustat one win from Superpesis place

Helsinki club Puna-Mustat is one victory away from a place in men’s Superpesis, Yle reports. A bus carrying hopeful fans left the Meilahti Finnish baseball field on Friday morning for Southern Ostrobothnia.

Puna-Mustat leads its qualifying series against Koskenkorvan Urheilijat by two wins to nil. The teams will meet for a third time at 4 p.m. on Friday, with a victory giving Puna-Mustat an achievement not seen in Helsinki for nearly 50 years.

The last Helsinki team to reach the men’s top division through its results was Helsinki-Pesis, which won the suomensarja in 1977 and moved up for the 1978 season.

A Helsinki team did play in Superpesis in 1997 and 1998, when Kaisaniemen Tiikerit took part. Yle describes that as an unsuccessful project intended to bring Finnish baseball from the provinces to Helsinki.

Fans travel south with high hopes

The supporters left Meilahti despite the long bus journey ahead. Among them was investor and non-fiction writer Merja Mähkä, who said she had cleared her entire calendar for the trip.

“This is a unique opportunity in life: Puna-Mustat can make it to Superpesis,” Mähkä said.

Another fan, Timo Reiju, said Finnish baseball was now being brought home. He noted that the first match of modern Finnish baseball was played at Kaisaniemi field on 14 November 1920.

Heidi Strengel did not board the bus but went to the maintenance building to pick up a Puna-Mustat jersey. She planned to watch the match at a restaurant in the right attire.

“Pumu has had a good atmosphere and a strong brand from the beginning, and the feeling among the fans is incredible. The team is really good, the promotion goal is ambitious, and Superpesis belongs in Helsinki,” she said.