Ramblers fall to Dubuque once again

Lack of control from starting pitcher Ben Cottrell and a sloppy defensive effort gave the Ramblers little chance of competing with red-hot Dubuque in Wednesday night's quarterfinal match-up at the Dyersville Tournament. Dubuque beat Key West for the third time in five meetings this season, this time coming by a 9-2 score to advance Dubuque to the semifinals.

Cottrell looked sharp in a 1-2-3 first inning that included strikeouts of Ben Tressel and Aaron Saeugling, but struggled in the bottom of the second. Two of the first three Blues' hitters walked in the inning, leading to both runs after Matt Asche cracked a two-run single for the first runs of the game.

After a Kevin Carkeek RBI single in the third, the Ramblers (30-9) chipped a run off the lead in the fourth when Jared Munson scored Chris Briggs with a single. But Dubuque put up four runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to make it 9-1. Both rallies began with an error on the shortstop. The Blues took advantage and scored six unearned runs to put the game out of reach.

Munson's second run-scoring single, which occurred in the sixth was far too little, too late as Dubuque pitcher Ryan Doty earned another victory. Cottrell went 4.1 innings for Key West, allowing four hits, six walks and three earned runs, along with five strikeouts.

Munson and Briggs both went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles to lead Key West, who will return to action Thursday at 7 p.m. at Worthington.