Toivo Ilola got his start in pesäpallo in 1945, when he played for his local Vimpelin team at the age of 17. He did not join the squad permanently, however, until 1947. He moved to Helsinki in 1950 to study and switched teams to Pallo-Tovereihin, becoming a national runner-up the following year. In 1952, he was selected to represent the Finnish Baseball League in the demonstration pesäpallo event at the Helsinki Olympics, where the team defeated the Workers’ Athletic Federation 8-4. He then bounced between Vimpelin and Pallo-Tovereihin for several years, coming in as national runner-up again with the former team in 1956, before joining Puna-Mustiin. He retired from active competition in 1959.
Finland