Late rally lifts Ramblers to Dyersville semifinals

A day after taking a 16-5 bludgeoning from Cascade in EIHL play, the Ramblers rebounded with a 4-3 win over that same Cascade team in the quarterfinals of the Dyersville Tournament. Key West (35-10) got a strong performance from starting pitcher Ryan Kelly and Cory Davidson came through at the plate Wednesday evening at Jenk Field.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth against Cascade pitcher Pat Weber, Davidson sparked a three-run rally with a one-out triple. After back-to-back hit batters and a wild pitch tied the score at 2-2, a Chris Briggs' sacrifice fly and a Kelly RBI single put the Ramblers ahead 4-2.

Key West maintained its two-run lead until the top of the seventh when Cascade tried to stage a comeback. Tom Andrews led off with a single and scored on a one-out double by Calvin Rea. But Kelly retired Tim Andrews on a pop out on the mound and then struck out Dan Lynch swinging to end the game.

Kelly got his fourth win of the season in a complete seven-inning outing. He allowed seven hits, two walks, three runs (one earned) and struck out eight.

Davidson broke out of his slump with a 2-for-3 effort that included a double, a triple and a run. Briggs finished 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI.

The Ramblers advance to Friday's semifinals when they play Bellevue at 8:30 p.m. Dyersville and Zwingle will battle at 6:30 p.m. in the other semifinal matchup. Bellevue topped Rickardsville 8-5 on Wednesday.

The winners will play in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The losers challenge each other in the consolation game at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

NOTES: Key West's win over Cascade on Wednesday also counted as an EIHL victory for a game originally scheduled on July 20 between the two teams. With the wins, the Ramblers tied their franchise mark of 35 victories in a season. Key West finished at 35-13 in 2011 ... The Ramblers are seeking their first Dyersville Tournament championship in team history. Earlier this season they won the Worthington Tournament for the first time ever ... Chris Briggs now has 47 RBIs on the season, a figure that shatters his previous team record of 35 RBIs (2010) in one season. Briggs has also broken records for home runs (10) and total bases (103) in 2012 ... The final town tournament for Key West in the 2012 season will be the Peosta Tournament. Pairings have not yet been announced.