Bats silenced as Dyersville bounces Ramblers from Peosta

Dyersville starting pitcher Ben Retenmeyer barely broke a sweat in a shutout of the Ramblers Sunday night in the first round of the Peosta Tournament. Retenmeyer struck out 10 and set down the Key West lineup in order in five of his seven innings in the leading Dyersville to a 3-0 victory at A.J. Spiegel Park.

The Ramblers (38-12) threatened to score in both the second and fourth innings, but failed to come up with the key two-out hit that they needed. The last three frames saw Retenmeyer tighten the screws as he retired the final 10 Key West hitters of the game to send Dyersville to the quarterfinal round.

Shawn Parker matched zeroes with Retenmeyer until the bottom of the sixth when Dyersville finally took advantage of Parker's wildness. Parker struck out the first hitter of the inning, but back-to-back walks proved fatal when both resulted in runs later in the frame. Dyersville would then add one more tally to complete a three-run sixth inning that all but put the game away with Retenmeyer dealing on the mound.

Parker fired 6.1 innings in defeat. He allowed seven hits, six walks and three runs (all earned), while posting seven strikeouts. Sean O'Connor relieved Parker and got the final two outs in the seventh inning.

Chris Briggs, Spencer Kuehn and Justin Kuhle each singled for the only three hits of the game for the Ramblers, which featured its regular cast of heavy hitters.

Key West will be in action for the final time this season when it hosts the Prairie League Championships in Peosta. The complete schedule for the Prairie League Championships will be posted when available.