Bernard Tournament game moved to Aug. 30

Sunday's scheduled first-round Bernard Tournament game versus Farley was postponed. It has been moved to Saturday, Aug. 30. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. from Bernard.

Bernard Tournament bracket

Key West will begin action at the Bernard Tournament on Sunday when it takes on Farley at 3 p.m. View the complete bracket below.

Peosta Tournament bracket released

Key West will begin play at the Peosta Tournament on Sunday (Aug. 17) as part of the 16-team bracket. The Ramblers (34-12) take on Bellevue at 4:30 p.m. that day. View the complete bracket below.

Key West ends Prairie League regular season with win

The Prairie League regular season came to an end on Monday as Key West (34-12) topped East Dubuque, 8-3, in Peosta. The Ramblers used five different pitchers, including four making their first appearances of the season, to navigate the seven-inning victory.

Brett LaMere got his first start on the mound and fired three shutout innings before giving way to Chad Crabill. Tony Ebel, who worked 1.1 innings, picked up the win, benefiting from Key West's four-run fifth-inning.

Six different Ramblers each collected one hit apiece on the night. Ben Oglesby and Anthony Ruden both notched RBI singles during the big fifth inning.

Key West has qualified for the Prairie League playoffs for the seventh time in the last eight years. Pairings will be announced when available.

Redman powers Ramblers to EIHL title

All Andrew Redman did was go a combined 6-for-7 with three home runs, a double and seven RBIs on Sunday as Key West (33-12) cruised past Dubuque, 8-0, in the EIHL semifinals and Farley, 10-2, in the championship game in Rickardsville. The Ramblers (33-12) already owned three all-time Prairie League championships but were still in search of their first-ever EIHL postseason banner entering Sunday's action.

Redman, an all-star second baseman, homered in all three of his at bats in the semifinal victory over Dubuque, giving him his fifth, sixth and seventh long balls of the season. Redman cracked a two-run homer in both the first and third innings and then a three-run blast in the fourth to provide plenty of support for starting pitcher Jordan Hohensee.

The power surge continued in Sunday's late afternoon title game battle with Farley. The Ramblers found themselves down 2-0 after an inning, but first baseman Chris Briggs got them on the board with a home run to lead off the second. Then in the third, center fielder Ben Oglesby (2-for-3 vs. Farley) connected on a homer that punctuated a seven-run third inning. The outburst staked Key West to a 9-2 lead.

The hot Rambler bats helped enact the eight-run rule in both of Sunday's playoff games. The semifinal contest ended when Luis Reyes singled in Brett LaMere in the bottom of the fifth to make it an eight-run margin. Similarly, the title game concluded with Jake Schaeffer's run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth.

On the day, Key West pounded out 25 hits - 16 of which came against Farley, who went with Andy Seabrooke on the mound. Three Ramblers had two or more hits in the semifinal - Redman (3-for-3), LaMere (2-for-3) and Schaeffer (2-for-3) - and another five did the same in the title game - Chad Crabill (3-for-3), LaMere (3-for-4), Redman (3-for-4), Briggs (2-for-3) and Oglesby (2-for-3).

Hohensee (9-4) held Dubuque to three hits as part of a five-inning shutout. He struck out four in the process of setting a new team single season record for innings pitched (91.1).

In the championship, Anthony Ruden (6-2), who allowed two first-inning runs, kept Farley scoreless over the final five frames. He surrendered just a single earned run on four hits and one walk while striking out five.

In last week's action, Key West also topped Balltown, 7-1, on Aug. 8 and Epworth, 10-2, on Aug. 9. The Ramblers have now won four-straight games.

Still to come: Three tournaments remain in the 2014 season - the Prairie League playoffs, the Peosta Tournament and the Bernard Tournament. Pairings/brackets will be posted when available. The Ramblers will also host East Dubuque on Monday (Aug. 11) at 7 p.m. in the final Prairie League regular-season game of the season.

Unofficial league MVP? If the EIHL was to name an official MVP for the 2014 season, how could it be anyone other than Andrew Redman? The Clarke University standout has a slash line of .424/.530/.674 (AVG/OBP/SLG). He also has seven home runs, 39 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 40 games.

Ramblers win first-ever EIHL postseason title

Key West accomplished something on Sunday that it had never done in its history - win the EIHL postseason title. The top-seeded Ramblers rolled past Dubuque, 8-0, and Farley, 10-2, in afternoon games decided by the eight-run rule on the way to winning the crown. The Ramblers blasted five home runs on the day - three coming from Andrew Redman in the semifinal victory over Dubuque. Chris Briggs and Ben Oglesby also crushed a home run apiece.

Key West (33-12) captured Prairie League championships in 2008, 2011 and 2012. The Ramblers have also now reached the 30-win mark for the fourth time in the last five seasons and for the fifth time in the past seven years.

Look for more coverage of Key West's championship on Monday.

EIHL playoffs set for Sunday

As champion of the EIHL, the Key West Ramblers (30-12, 11-3 EIHL) garnered the No. 1 seed for the league playoffs, which will get underway Sunday (Aug. 10) afternoon in Rickardsville. Key West will play fourth-seeded Dubuque (9-5 EIHL) at 1 p.m. Both the semifinals and the title game will be held in Rickardsville on Sunday.

EIHL playoffs - Sunday, Aug. 10
1 p.m. - #1 Key West (11-3) vs. #4 Dubuque (9-5)
2:30 p.m. - #2 Rickardsville (10-4) vs. #3 Farley (10-4)
4 p.m. - Championship

*All games will be seven innings with an eight-run rule after five; highest seeds serve as home teams.

Key West bounced from Dyersville Tournament in first round

With the benefit of three Key West errors in the bottom of the seventh, Farley walked off with a 2-1 in first-round action at the Dyersville Tournament on Sunday night. The Ramblers (29-12) had hoped to capture their second Dyersville Tournament title in three seasons. The loss also counted as a Prairie League game.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Key West tied the game when a passed ball with the bases loaded chased Anthony Ruden home. However, the Ramblers could not take further advantage of three walks issued in the inning by starter Andy Seabrooke.

Jordan Hohensee took the loss despite working a complete game that spanned 6.1 innings. Hohensee let in just a single earned run on five hits and two walks. He struck out four in what was his 11th complete game of the season.

While the Ramblers took four walks, they managed only two hits off Seabrooke.

Up Next: Key West has two make-up games to close the week. It will host Balltown in Peosta at 6 p.m. on Friday and then go to Epworth at 12 p.m. on Saturday.

Ramblers claim EIHL regular-season title

By winning game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader at Cascade, Key West captured the first EIHL regular-season title ever. The Ramblers (29-10) finished with a league mark of 11-3. Playoff pairings will be posted when available.

Key West has three Prairie League postseason championships: 2008, 2011 and 2012. The Ramblers have been EIHL postseason runner up twice: 2010 and 2011 and Prairie League runner up in 2009.

Dyersville Tournament pairings

The historic Dyersville Tournament got underway Thursday (July 31) night in Dyersville, Iowa. Key West will get started from Dyersville on Sunday in a 7:30 p.m. contest versus Farley (also counts as a Prairie League game). Queens night will be held Friday, Aug. 8.

First Round
Thu., July 31 - Dyersville 15, Placid 0
Thu., July 31 - Monticello 2, Worthington 1
Fri., Aug. 1 - Epworth vs. Peosta, 7 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 1 - Bernard vs. Zwingle, 8:30 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 2 - Bellevue vs. Balltown, 6 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 2 - Rickardsville vs. Dubuque, 7:30 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 3 - Cascade vs. East Dubuque, 6 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 3 - Farley vs. Key West

Quarterfinals - Tue., Aug. 5 and Wed., Aug. 6

Semifinals - Fri., Aug. 8

Championship/Consolation - Sat., Aug. 9

Ramblers split EIHL doubleheader at Cascade

In a pair of make-up games at Cascade, Key West split a doubleheader on Thursday night. The Ramblers took game 1, 10-1, before a rash of errors cost them in an 8-6 loss in the night cap. Key West moved to 29-10 overall and 11-3 in EIHL play.

First baseman Chris Briggs stayed red hot, reaching base in seven of eight plate appearances as part of a 5-for-6 night that included three more RBIs to push his team high total to 35. Briggs singled and scored on Brett LaMere's two-run base hit that got Key West on top immediately in the first inning of game 1. Briggs added a single and a run in the third and then a run-scoring knock in the sixth.

Anthony Ruden, who fired a complete game to earn the game 1 victory, also had a big day with two hits in both games. He drilled a two-run double to highlight a six-run fifth inning that put the first contest out of reach. On the mound, Ruden scattered five hits and seven walks and held Cascade to a single earned run.

Catcher Chad Crabill went 2-for-2 with a run and RBI in game 1 and then 2-for-3 with another run and RBI in game 2. Star second baseman Andrew Redman keyed the game 2 attack with a pair of doubles, including one for an RBI in the top of the sixth. LaMere (2-for-4) and Reyes (2-for-4) added two hits apiece in the second contest while Ben Oglesby went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI in the victory.

Game 2 was marred by Key West's defensive miscues that allowed Cascade to tally six unearned runs - five off of Rambler starter Sam Noel, who went 4.2 innings. Cascade piled up four unearned runs in the fifth to take a 6-4 advantage. After Key West tacked on a run in the top of the sixth, Cascade put up two runs in the bottom half off of Austin Bradley to gain control.

Records broken: Two single-season records have been broken by Rambler individuals in 2014. Andrew Redman's 42 runs scored topped the previous top mark of 39 by Dan Spain in 2011. Jordan Hohensee also set a new record with 10 complete games. The previous record was eight by Sean O'Connor in 2011.

Up next: The Ramblers will go up against Farley in the first round of the Dyersville Tournament at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.