Bellevue Tournament first round postponed until Saturday

Inclement weather has pushed the Bellevue Tournament first round back once again. The Ramblers are now scheduled to play Saturday (June 1) versus Dubuque at 5 p.m. The winner will then play again on Saturday night in the next round of the bracket.

The original tournament bracket had Key West pegged to play in Bellevue on May 26, but heavy rainfall in Eastern Iowa has wrecked havoc on the area semi-pro baseball schedule. The Ramblers have not played since May 21.

Tue/Wed/Thu games postponed; Bellevue Tourney moved to Friday

Updated: 8:56 p.m.

Key West's first game with Dubuque at the Bellevue Tournament has been pushed back again. The Ramblers will play the Blues at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. This is the only scheduled game this week due to postponements of games originally scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Tuesday and Wednesday road league games have been postponed due to rain. The fields at both Farley and Dyersville have been deemed unplayable. In addition, Thursday's scheduled home game with Balltown has been postponed.

Schedule update

Heavy rainfall over the last several days continues to push back the Bellevue Tournament. The Ramblers are now scheduled to play in the first round in Bellevue on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Dubuque. Key West has not played since beating Rickardsville 10-8 on May 21.

With the postponement of the Bellevue Tournament, the Ramblers' scheduled EIHL game with Farley on Tuesday night is back on. The infield at Farley Park is covered by a tarp, meaning the game will be played if the weather clears.

This week's schedule:
Tuesday: at Farley, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: at Dyersville, 7 p.m.
Thursday: vs. Dubuque (at Bellevue Tournament), 7 p.m.

Ramblers top Rickardsville in high-scoring affair

Key West took advantage of a sloppy Rickardsville defensive effort and piled up double-digit runs for a second-straight game on the way to a 10-8 victory on Tuesday. The Ramblers improved to 3-3 overall and avenged their 3-2 loss to Rickardsville over the weekend.

Key West struck for four first-inning runs on the benefit of only two hits. Four Rickardsville errors in the frame staked Rambler starting pitcher Zane Ridings to a 4-1 lead at the end of the first.

Ridings, who allowed an unearned run in the first, pitched scoreless frames in the second, third and fourth until tiring in the middle innings. He went six innings, surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks, as he moved to 2-0 in his first season with Key West.

The Ramblers led 8-5 when Ridings was pulled after six. First baseman Chris Briggs added a two-run triple in the fourth to provide a 7-1 cushion at the time. With the lead cut to 8-6, Key West tallied two more runs in the eighth thanks to back-to-back doubles from Matt Knabel and Luis Reyes.

Rickardsville threatened with two runs in the ninth off of reliever Brian McCabe. Dan Spain came in with one out and finally shut the door with the bases loaded.

Jose Stelluti (2-for-4), Briggs (2-for-5) and Tanner Denlinger (2-for-5) each notched two hits for Key West.

The Ramblers return to action on Wednesday when they take on East Dubuque in a Prairie League game at 7 p.m.

Key West reschedules game with Placid for July 7

Key West's home Prairie League game with Placid has been rescheduled for Sunday, July 7 at 1 p.m. The game will take place at A.J. Spiegel Park in Peosta. The contest was originally postponed due to a conflict with a tournament date.

The complete schedule can be viewed HERE.

Ramblers rebound from tournament loss, thrash Epworth

The Ramblers fell on Friday and Saturday at the EIHL Preseason Tournament before rebounding for an 11-3 victory over Epworth in a Prairie League game on Sunday. Key West, which fell 3-2 to Rickardsville in the EIHL consolation game on Saturday, improved to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in Prairie League action with Sunday's victory.

Andrew Redman, a first team All-Midwest Collegiate Conference performer at Clarke University, made his season debut on Sunday. He threw five innings and struck out nine on the way to picking up a victory. Redman did not allow a hit until Epworth struck for three runs on four hits in the fifth inning.

Aaron Collins impressed over the final four innings. The Coe College hurler held Epworth scoreless in his first outing to earn the save in relief of Redman. Collins struck six as he and Redman combined on a total of 15 punch outs.

The duo got plenty of support from the Key West offensive attack, which was led by center fielder Tanner Denlinger, who went 3-for-6 with a double and five RBIs. Denlinger cleared the bases with a three-run double in the top of the second to get the Ramblers on the board first.

The top four hitters in the Key West lineup - Denlinger, Trent Bollman (2-for-6), Dan Spain (2-for-4) and Chris Briggs (2-for-6) - all notched at least two hits. Third baseman Luis Reyes also tallied two hits as part of a 16-hit splurge for the Ramblers.

The win took some of the sting out of losing two nailbiters by a single run at the EIHL Preseason Tournament. Key West defeated Dyersville 4-2 in the first round of the tournament prior to a 10-inning, 5-4 defeat to Cascade in the semifinals on Friday and a 3-2 loss to Rickardsville in the consolation game on Saturday.

Key West got solid outings on the mound in both losses. Clarke product Matt Lozano (pictured) fired eight quality innings, giving up three runs versus Cascade. Spain then took the ball on Saturday and did not allow a single earned run in a seven-inning complete game.

Among Ramblers who have played in at least three of the team's first five games, Briggs leads the team with a .412 batting average. Key West's pitching has sparkled, turning in a 1.76 ERA in 41 innings thus far. No pitcher has started more than one game.

The Ramblers return to action on Tuesday to take on Rickardsville in Peosta at 7 p.m. in an EIHL duel.

Briggs' two-run blast powers first Rambler victory of 2013

A strong wind that blew in had nothing to say to Chris Briggs' monster two-run homer that broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning and led Key West to a 4-2 victory over Dyersville on Monday night. With the victory, the Ramblers (1-1) advanced to the semifinals of the EIHL Preseason Tournament. Key West will take on Cascade at 7 p.m. when the tournament resumes in Rickardsville on Friday.

Much like the season-opening loss, the Ramblers fell behind early as Clarke University pitcher Zane Ridings gave up two first-inning runs. Ridings, a Columbia Falls, Mont., native, buckled down the rest of the way and threw a seven-inning complete game to pick up the victory on the mound.

Key West knotted the score off of Dyersville pitcher Russ Bolibaugh by getting a pair of runs in the third - one by way of an error and one via shortstop Dan Spain's RBI single. Center fielder Tanner Denlinger, who finished the game 2-for-2, scored the tying run.

The score remained the same until the sixth when right fielder Spencer Kuehn led off the frame with a double. That set the stage for Briggs' game-winning homer. It was the first of the season for the powerful lefty, who set a team record with 11 homers in 2012.

Dyersville got a lead-off single to begin the seventh, but Ridings retired the next three hitters - two on flies to the outfield and the final one on a grounder to short.

Key West also debuted a new catcher on Monday as Jose Stelluti handled duties behind the plate. Stelluti walked and scored a run in the third. Third baseman Luis Reyes played for the Ramblers for the first time as well.

In addition to the EIHL Preseason Semifinals on Friday, Key West will also play Saturday and Sunday as part of a busy weekend. Wednesday's scheduled EIHL game at Monticello has been postponed.

Ramblers fall in season opener

The 2013 season opened up on Saturday as visiting Bellevue defeated the Ramblers 4-2 at AJ Spiegel Park in Peosta. Key West dropped the season opener despite not giving up a single earned run. The Ramblers begin the campaign at 0-1 in the Prairie League after winning the league title with a 15-1 record last season.

Bellevue got all four of its runs in a nightmare of a first inning for Key West. Bellevue took advantage of a pair of Rambler errors and a base on balls to take control early. A run-scoring double off of Key West right-hander Shawn Parker with two outs proved to be the big blow in the frame.

The Ramblers chipped away with a run each in the first and second innings, but the Bellevue pitching combo of Dave Smith and Pete Bonifas shut the door the rest of the way. Key West threatened in the ninth by putting two on with two out before Spencer Kuehn struck out to end the game.

The Ramblers got an RBI single apiece from Chris Briggs and Dan Spain. Briggs (2-for-4), Kuehn (2-for-5) and Spain (2-for-5) all notched multiple hits on the day. Key West out-hit Bellevue 10-5.

Parker took the loss in his season debut. He fired five innings and surrendered four hits and a walk while striking out five. Clarke University hurler Jordan Hohensee pitched scoreless ball over the final four innings and gave up just a single hit and two walks. He also struck out five.

Hohensee and other Clarke products Johhny Kruick and Anthony Razo all made their Rambler debuts on Saturday. Hohensee went 3-3 with a 4.36 ERA in 43.1 innings as a Crusader in 2013.

Key West will return to action on Monday night to take part in the EIHL Preseason Tournament. The Ramblers will battle Dyersville at 7 p.m. in Rickardsville. The game was originally scheduled to take place Friday night but was postponed due to rain.

2013 schedule released

The 2013 Key West Ramblers schedule has been released. Key West will open the season on Friday at the EIHL Preseason Tournament against Dyersville. That game will be held in Rickardsville at 7 p.m.

The slate includes 15 Prairie League games, 14 EIHL contests and two tournament games that have already been scheduled. Additional tournament games will be added to the schedule as the brackets are released.

View the 2013 schedule HERE. The schedule link will be available throughout the season at the top right of the page.

Fake-to-third, throw-to-first abolished

In accordance with Major League Baseball's adoption of rule 8.05b, both the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye and Prairie Leagues have agreed to ban the fake-to-third, throw-to-first pick off move. This action may or may not be allowed at town-hosted tournaments depending on the discretion of tournament officials. The adoption of this new rule is mandated for all league games.

Major League Baseball rule 8.05b (Page 77: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2013/official_baseball_rules.pdf):

"If there is a runner, or runners, it is a balk when the pitcher, while touching his plate, feints a throw to first or third base and fails to complete the throw."

EIHL Preseason Tournament bracket released

Key West will begin play in the EIHL Preseason Tournament on Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m. The third-seeded Ramblers will take on sixth-seeded Dyersville in the first round. Key West went 3-1 against Dyersville in last season's four meetings. The entire tournament will unfold in Rickardsville.

View the rest of the bracket HERE.