Bizarre play pushes Ramblers to victory over Farley

A soft grounder to the right of the pitcher's mound proved to be the most important play in the Ramblers' 6-2 victory over Farley on Sunday afternoon at Farley Park. Key West (8-9) won for the third time in the last four games, riding the dominant right arm of starting pitcher Andrew Redman (4-0, 1.08 ERA) once again.

Farley actually edged in front 1-0 with an unearned run in the top of the fourth, but the Ramblers quickly answered with four runs in the bottom half. After Gabe Wingert's (pictured) sacrifice fly knotted the game, Key West struck for three runs on a single play thanks to several Farley defensive miscues.

With two out and two on, Key West right fielder Austin Bradley hit a dribbler down the first base line that Farley pitcher Matt McKinney fielded and fired over the first baseman's head. Chris Briggs scored easily while Matt Knabel chugged around third and trotted home as the throw to the plate sailed over the catcher's head. The speedy Bradley then sprinted to the plate as another errant throw missed the mark. Suddenly the Ramblers led 4-1.

The three-run lead provided plenty of cushion for Redman, who moved to 12-1 in his last 13 starts. The powerful right-hander did not give up a single earned run in seven innings. He limited Farley to four hits and struck out nine while not issuing any free passes.

Farley mounted a rally in the eighth with a run to get within 4-2. Kenny Capesius, who entered the game in the seventh, cracked a two-run single off of reliever Will Petrosky to give the Ramblers some more breathing room. Capesius delivered the two-out base hit through the left side of the infield in the bottom of the eighth, capping all scoring for the day.

Lefty Matt Lozano then completed the victory with a 1-2-3 ninth. Lozano got the save for his work in the eighth and ninth innings. He and Redman combined for a dozen strikeouts.

Redman has been near unhittable once again in 2013, limiting opposing hitters to a .143 batting average in 25 innings this season. He has allowed only 13 hits and three walks all year.

Wingert finished 2-for-3 in his seventh career game with Key West. Briggs got back on track with a 3-for-4 effort that included a pair of runs.

The Ramblers will have nearly a week off before returning to action on Saturday, July 6 when the Rickardsville Tournament gets underway. Key West will play East Dubuque at 6 p.m. in the first round at Rickardsville.

Key West draws Bellevue in Cascade Tourney

The Ramblers will play Bellevue in the first round of the 67th annual Cascade Tournament on Friday, July 19. Game time is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. The two teams have met just once so far this season with Bellevue winning 4-2 in a Prairie League game.

View the complete bracket below.

Ramblers fall hard to Cascade

The Ramblers failed to carry over the momentum they gained from Sunday's thrilling extra-inning victory over Rickardsville, falling 8-0 to Cascade in the quarterfinals of the Worthington Tournament on Wednesday night. Key West (7-9) had hoped to defend its 2012 Worthington title.

Cascade got on top right away with Tom Andrews solo homer in the first off of Rambler starter Aaron Collins. The Reds tacked on at least one run in every inning on the way to a comfortable victory. Roamn Hummel added another solo shot with a blast over the center field wall in the third.

Key West struggled all night at the plate against Cascade's Brett Poffenburger. The Ramblers were limited to two hits in the six-inning, run-rule shortened game. Poffenburger allowed just one runner to advance into scoring position all evening.

Collins fired the first two innings before being lifted for reliever Dan Spain. Kenny Capesius also appeared on the mound late in the game for Key West.

The Ramblers will return to action on Sunday when they host Farley in a Prairie League game. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. from Farley Park.

Rickardsville bracket pairs Ramblers with East Dubuque

The 35th annual Rickardsville Tournament bracket, announced Sunday evening, matches Key West with East Dubuque in the first round of the 16-team bracket. The Ramblers will begin play in the tournament on Saturday, July 6 at 6 p.m.

The entire tournament will play out July 5 - 14. The championship game will be held Sunday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. Check out the complete bracket below.

Key West has yet to play East Dubuque this season. A game scheduled for earlier this season between the two teams was wiped out by rain.

Redman outduels Cottrell; Ramblers take two

A dramatic pitcher's duel between Key West starter Andrew Redman and former Rambler Ben Cottrell resulted in a thrilling 4-1, nine-inning victory for Key West (7-8) on Sunday night. The Ramblers rallied from a 1-0 deficit and eventually broke loose in the ninth off of Cottrell to bounce Rickardsville from the Worthington Tournament. Key West also defeated Zwingle 4-2 in a Prairie League game earlier in the day.

But Sunday's night cap is what brought life back to a Rambler team that struggled to get out of the first round in recent tournaments. Dan Spain's looping RBI single to right field just in front of a diving Mike Leibfried plated Matt Knabel to break the 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth. Red-hot Cory Davidson then smoked a two-run double into the left-center gap to bring in two more runs and put an exclamation point on a much-needed victory.

For a while, Cottrell looked like he may make Rickardsville's first-inning run stand up. The right-hander, who threw nearly 200 innings over four seasons as a Rambler, did not even allow a Key West runner to advance past first base until the sixth inning.

That's when Tanner Denlinger singled up the middle to lead off the frame. Spain followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Denlinger up to second. Davidson's grounder to first went underneath the glove of the Rickardsville first baseman, putting runners on the corners with one out. Chris Briggs then hit a medium-deep fly ball to center that allowed Denlinger to score just ahead of a strong throw to the plate.

Redman's typical dominance on the mound helped the Ramblers force extra innings. The Clarke University product balked in Rickardsville's only run when he illegally feinted a throw to third base. The rest of the way Redman befuddled the opposition. He gave up just four hits and a walk while striking out five over eight innings. He is now 11-1 in his last 12 starts.

Spain then relieved Redman in the ninth. With the help of an outstanding play in the hole at short by Redman, Spain fired a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

While Briggs did not record a hit on Sunday, his work with the glove at first saved several potential errors. Briggs used outstanding footwork to pick throws out of the dirt on at least four occasions.

Cottrell pitched the entire game for Rickardsville and took the loss. Ironically, it was Cottrell who grounded out to end the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Key West will return to action in the Worthington Tournament on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. when it takes on Cascade, which defeated Balltown earlier on Sunday evening.

Key West 4, Zwingle 2

A short rain shower delayed the start of Sunday's Prairie League matinee a few minutes, but it didn't stop Key West from getting off to a fast start. The Ramblers scored two in the first, one in the second and one in the third.

Matt Lozano emerged as the biggest story of Sunday's first game. He struck out 12 in a seven-inning complete game. He surrendered only four hits and a walk and did not give up a single earned run. He ended the game with five straight punch outs.

Davidson continued his fine work in the three spot in the lineup. He doubled in the first run of the game and also drew a bases loaded walk in the second to force home a run. The Ramblers led 4-0 after three innings.

Sloppy Key West defense in the sixth inning made for some tense moments. Three errors helped load the bases with one out and Zwingle down just 4-2. But Lozano would not be denied the win as he began his strikeout binge to preserve the two-run lead.

Davidson went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, a run and two walks. Knabel registered a 2-for-4 effort with a pair of infield singles.

The Ramblers are now 3-2 in Prairie League games. Lozano moved to 2-1. He sports a 1.88 ERA in a team high 28.2 innings this season.

Blues continue dominance of Ramblers

Key West fell to 0-3 this season against rival Dubuque as the visiting Blues came away with a 5-3 Prairie League victory on Tuesday night in Peosta. The Ramblers (5-7) have lost four games already by two runs or less in 2013.

Jeff Hoerner's second inning sacrifice fly looked like it might cap off the game's scoring, but the Blues struck for four more in the top of the seventh to make it 5-0 in support of winning pitcher Alex Timmerman.

Key West finally got something going offensively with three runs in the bottom of the seventh (final inning) in a last ditch attempt. Tanner Denlinger's RBI single cashed in on a defensive miscue to get the Ramblers on the board. A passed ball later scored Denlinger prior to Jayson Hinrichsen's run-scoring single to make it 5-3. Dan Spain represented the tying run with Key West down to its final out, but Spain popped out to third to end the game.

Left-handed starter Matt Lozano gave the Ramblers 6.2 strong innings on the mound. Lozano allowed just a single unearned run heading into the seventh. He gave up a leadoff single before inducing the next two hitters to ground out. However, the Blues chased Lozano with an RBI double. Dan Spain relieved Lozano and struggled with control as Dubuque padded its lead.

Lozano gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four.

Denlinger paced the offensive attack with a 2-for-3 night that included a run and an RBI.

The Ramblers will get another shot at Dubuque on Thursday night when the two teams meet at Petrakis for a 7 p.m. EIHL battle.

Power surge leads to blowout victory

After scoring just one combined run in their two previous games, the Ramblers responded with their second 18-run outburst of the season on the way to an 18-0 drubbing of host Worthington on Sunday evening. Key West (5-6) got five shutout innings from starter Andrew Redman and a trio of Ramblers connected on a home run apiece to snap a two-game losing streak.

After getting on top with one unearned run in the first, shortstop Dan Spain set the tone for the rest of the game by smacking a three-run homer with one away in the second. Four batters later center fielder Tanner Denlinger crushed a three-run shot of his own to make the score 7-0.

But the Ramblers weren't done there. Rambler newcomer Jayson Hinrichsen clubbed yet another three-run homer as part of a five-run third inning that put the game out of reach early. Key West led 12-0 after three and then ballooned the score to 18-0 with two runs each in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.

Spain enjoyed a monster game as he added a two-run double in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give him six RBIs for the game. Denlinger drove in four.

A total of six Key West batsmen cracked two hits or more: Hinrichsen (2-for-3), Capesius (2-for-3), Deon Ploessl (2-for-3), Spain (2-for-4), Cory Davidson (2-for-6) and Denlinger (2-for-6). The Ramblers totaled 14 hits while also taking advantage of six Worthington errors.

Redman gave up just a single hit in his five innings of work. He struck out six on the way to improving to 10-1 since the start of the 2012 season. Spain fired two scoreless frames in relief of Redman.

Key West also won 18-0 over Holy Cross on June 6. The Ramblers have scored 10 or more runs four times this season.

Key West is back in action Tuesday night when Dubuque visits the Ramblers in Peosta for a Prairie League contest. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

Ramblers rough up Holy Cross

Key West put up four first-inning runs fueled by catcher Gabe Wingert's three-run homer on the way to an 18-0 drubbing of visiting Holy Cross on Thursday night. The Ramblers piled up 15 hits in a game that was originally scheduled to take place in July. Because of the abundance of rain outs in recent weeks, Key West moved up the date with Holy Cross to get a game in.

Leading 8-0 in the sixth, the Ramblers (4-4) poured it on with a 10-run sixth inning to help take away from the frustration of early-season postponements and close losses. Second baseman Jayson Hinrichsen led the attack at the top of the order with a 2-for-4 night that included three runs and two RBIs.

Nine different Ramblers recorded at least one hit and eight notched one or more RBIs as part of the offensive onslaught. The 18 runs were the most for Key West since drilling Dyersville 22-4 on June 19 of last season.

Third baseman Spencer Kuehn continued his hot early-season run with a 2-for-5 effort. He leads the team with a .435 batting average. Meanwhile, first baseman Chris Briggs drove in another three runs to push his team high total to 10 on the season.

Matt Lozano picked up his first win as a Rambler by firing five shutout innings. He struck out 10 Holy Cross hitters and allowed only three hits. Aaron Collins pitched the final two frames and struck out two. Collins has not allowed an earned run through his first eight innings this season.

Other Ramblers with two-plus hits included: Cory Davidson (2-for-2, run, RBI), Matt Knabel (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBIs) and Briggs (2-for-4, 3 RBIs, 3 runs).

Key West will be back in action on Saturday when it is scheduled to take on Dubuque at the Farley Tournament. First pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Ramblers slated to play Rickardsville in Worthington first round

Key West will begin its defense of the 2012 Worthington Tournament championship when the 2013 event gets started later this month. The Ramblers will take on Rickardsville on Sunday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the 65th annual tournament's first round. (Full bracket below)

In last season's Worthington Tournament, Key West defeated Balltown (1-0), Rickardsville (4-2), Dubuque (5-0) and Peosta (10-5) to capture the Worthington title for the first time in team history. Andrew Redman tossed two shutouts to earn the tournament's Outstanding Pitcher award.

Dubuque ousts Key West in Bellevue

Dubuque got the best of Key West on Saturday evening in the first round of the Bellevue Tournament in the first of many meetings this season between the two titans of area semi-pro baseball. The Blues used the long ball to blow open a comfortable margin in the third inning on the way to a 7-1 victory. Dubuque has now won seven of the last 10 games against the Ramblers, who fell to 3-4 on the season.

Blues' shortstop Andy Danna cracked a three-run homer with one out in the third inning off of Key West starter Spencer Kuehn to boost their advantage to 5-0. Aaron Saeugling then belted a solo shot off Kuehn in the fourth to make it 6-0, providing more than enough support for Dubuque starting pitcher Mark Hennessey.

Kuehn was lifted for reliever Aaron Collins after four innings of work. Kuehn struck out six and allowed four earned runs on six hits and three walks. Collins fanned four Blues' hitters in his two innings on the mound.

The Ramblers got their lone run in the sixth inning when first baseman Chris Briggs plated shortstop Jayson Hinrichsen with a sacrifice fly. Briggs leads the team with seven RBIs on the season.

Hinrichsen went 2-for-2 with a double and a walk in his Key West debut. The Ramblers have now used 23 different position players already this season, while Kuehn became the sixth different player to start on the mound for Key West in 2013.

Dubuque got on top in the first inning with a pair of unearned runs, continuing an early-season theme. Rambler pitchers sport a solid 3.05 staff ERA, but they have suffered from a leaky defense that has allowed 13 unearned runs through the season's first seven games.

Key West will get two more shots at the Blues in the upcoming week. The two clubs will meet on Tuesday (7 p.m.) in a EIHL game in Peosta. They will then face off in another first-round tournament matchup on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) at the Farley Tournament.

Farley Tournament matches Key West with Dubuque

As the top dogs on the Eastern Iowa semi-pro circuit, Key West and Dubuque are all too familiar with meeting up in the first round of town tournaments. The two teams will battle once again when they begin play in the Farley Tournament on June 8. First pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. (Full bracket below)

Dubuque defeated Key West 7-1 in the first round of the Bellevue Tournament on Saturday evening. Out of the seven town tournaments the Ramblers participated in last season, they were pitted against the Blues in the first round of three of those brackets. Key West went 3-6 against Dubuque in 2012.