Farley handles Ramblers

With Dan Spain, Tim Carty, Tyler Sincock and Matt Knabel out of the lineup Friday night, Key West (21-14) struggled in a 11-0 loss at Farley.

Farley's Travis Olson, Chris Kerper, Mark Pins and Brian Miller all had multiple hit games against Rambler pitchers Greg Farrey and Cole Boge. Farley pitcher Ray Cavanaugh recorded a six-inning, complete game shut out, allowing just three hits.

Chris Briggs went 2-for-2 for the Ramblers who look to put the ugly loss behind them when they travel to Placid for a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. Ben Cottrell will get the nod on the mound.

Briggs/Carty tie team single-season homer record

Chris Briggs and Tim Carty have each tallied four home runs this season, one more than the previous single-season Rambler record. Dan Spain cracked three home runs during the 2008 season. Andrew Redman tied Spain's former record with three homers last season.

Carty went on a home run binge with three big flies in a four game-stretch that started at the Rickardsville tournament where he hit one against Cascade. Carty then hit a home run in consecutive games against Bankston and Monticello to push his season total to four.

Briggs tied Carty's team record by hitting a home run in back-to-back games against Rickardsville and Monticello. Briggs has 107 at bats to Carty's 80.

Carty also holds the team career home run record with nine.

As a team, the Ramblers have now hit 11 home runs in 2010, tying last year's team single-season high.

Briggs' blast keys another victory

Chris Briggs smacked a home run for the second straight game to help the Ramblers (21-13) to a 5-3 win over visiting Monticello at Peosta on Tuesday night.

Briggs' fifth inning drive over the right field fence gave Key West a 3-2 lead, proving to be the game-winner. The blast was an important run in a game where Key West struggled to score runs against a team it beat 17-0 just a week earlier.

The Ramblers added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Jared Munson led off with a double and scored on a Justin Kuhle RBI single. After a Briggs single put runners on first and third, Kenny Capessius scored Kuhle on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt for Key West's final tally.

On the mound, lefthander Cory Davidson went six strong innings, giving up only two runs (one earned). Chris Brewer pitched the last three innings to earn the save.

Munson went 2-for-3 to raise his team-leading batting average to .404. Briggs finished 3-for-5 and Cam Stewart and Davidson also added two hits apiece.

Leading Hitters

Through 33 games:

Dan Spain: .396 BA (38-96), .478 OBP, .573 SLG, 27 R, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 15 SB, 7 2B, 2 3B, 26 GP.

Jared Munson: .395 BA (34-86), .500 OBP, .465 SLG, 22 R, 0 HR, 15 RBI, 12 SB, 4 2B, 1 3B, 24 GP.

Tim Carty: .350 BA (28-80), .485 OBP, .563 SLG, 17 R, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 2 SB, 5 2B, 25 GP.

Chris Briggs: .284 BA (29-102), .368 OBP, .451 SLG, 19 R, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 3 SB, 6 2B, 1 3B, 29 GP.

Ramblers fall to Rickardsville at Cascade Tourney

Chris Briggs' long two-run homer in the fourth inning gave Key West a momentary 3-2 edge. But Rickardsville came back to score two in the top half of the fifth to regain the lead at 4-3 and win by a final of 5-3 in a first round match up Monday night at the Cascade Tournament.

Rickardsville added a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Eric Banwarth before a crazy double play, involving two baserunning gaffes, ended the frame.

Ben Cottrell, who went seven innings on the mound for the Ramblers, took the loss. He gave up 10 hits and six walks (one intentional) but allowed just three earned runs.

Key West got its first run with two outs in the second when Cory Davidson's RBI single drove in Matt Knabel, who reached on a double.

The Ramblers dropped to 20-13 on the season.

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