Ramblers ride dominant pitching to 9-1 start

The 2011 edition of the Key West Ramblers set the bar awfully high. They began the season by winning 14 of their first 15 games, finished with a team record 35 wins and took three tournament titles.

So far, the 2012 squad has been every bit as good, racing out to a 9-1 start on the strength of a pitching staff that has a microscopic 2.04 ERA. Opposing batters are hitting just .207 against Key West hurlers and the Ramblers have outscored their opponents 68-23 in the season's first 10 games.

Already a team single-game record has been broken. Spencer Kuehn (pictured at left) baffled Peosta to the tune of 16 strikeouts in a 6-4 win on May 20, setting a new team standard. Kuehn, a California native and University of Dubuque product, owns a record of 2-0 to go along with a 2.30 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work.

In the team's most recent outing, Ben Cottrelll continued his dominant work, going eight innings and allowing just five hits and a walk while striking out eight in the Ramblers' 6-0 blanking of Farley on Tuesday. Cottrell improved to 2-0 and lowered his ERA to a sparkling 0.56.

Meanwhile, Sean O'Connor has yet to give up an earned run in his first 18 innings pitched. The right-hander dazzled in his May 17 start against Monticello, tossing eight shutout innings with 15 strikeouts. O'Connor has a mark of 2-0 and has also recorded a save this season.

At the plate, the Ramblers are batting .332 through the first 10 games. Chris Briggs leads the way with a .429 clip, as he has picked up where he left off after stellar seasons each of the last two years. Briggs, who became the first player ever for Key West with back-to-back seasons of 30 or more RBIs in 2010 and 2011, has two homers and six RBIs in nine games.

Briggs and shortstop Dan Spain accomplished a rare feat when both players homered in consecutive games. The two Rambler standouts clubbed a single home run each in the May 16 win over Rickardsville and in the May 17 triumph over Monticello. Spain, who was recently named the new head baseball coach at Clarke University, is batting .361 and leads the team with 10 RBIs.

Five other regulars in the Key West lineup are batting above .300, including Tim Carty (.421), Kuehn (.389), Cory Davidson (.350), Chad Crabill (.324) and Brian Solemsaas (.310). Kuehn has been a doubles machine thus far, striking for seven two-baggers on the season.

The Ramblers return to action on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when they take on Cascade in the first round of the Bellevue Tournament.

To view updated season stats, click here.