Ramler, Ramblers rock Rickardsville

The win streak grew to 15 on Tuesday night as Key West thrashed Rickardsville, 12-1, in EIHL action in Peosta. No. 5 hitter Nate Ramler tore apart Rickardsville with a 4-for-5 night that included an eighth-inning three-run homer that enacted the 10-run rule. The Ramblers (16-2, 6-1 EIHL) have not lost since a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Farley on May 15.

Ramler, who drove in five runs, played the part of the ringleader for a potent offensive attack that generated 13 hits on Tuesday. Other Ramblers with multiple hits were Ben Oglesby (2-for-3), Nick Woltkamp (2-for-3), Chris Briggs (2-for-5) and Dan Spain (2-for-5). Woltkamp doubled, tripled and knocked in a pair of runs. He's now hitting .391 on the year.

On the mound, Art Martinez pitched five solid frames (three hits, one run allowed) while earning his first win of the season. Austin Bradley received credit for the save by working scoreless sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Rickardsville's lone run came on a Mike Leibfried sac fly in the third inning.

Since the start of the 2012 season, Key West has won 14 of 17 meetings with Rickardsville. The Ramblers are set to return to action on Sunday with two games. First up is a Prairie League matchup in Peosta with New Vienna at 1 p.m. Key West then sets its sights on the Worthington Tournament where it will take on Farley at 7:30 p.m. in a semifinal contest.

Ramblers win third Farley title

For the third time in team history, the Ramblers are champions of the Farley Tournament. On Sunday Key West (15-2) extended its team record win streak to 14 by edging host Farley, 3-2, in the title game. As part of the 16-team bracket, the Ramblers defeated Dubuque, Bellevue and Cascade in making their way to the Father's Day championship tilt. Key West also won Farley titles in 2011 and 2014.

Andrew Redman earned a tournament MVP award for the second time this season by going 8-for-11 over the four games at Farley. He was also the MVP of the Bellevue Tournament, which the Ramblers won on June 4.

Trey Ertmer played the role of hero on Sunday. He recorded the last 11 outs in relief of Nick Woltkamp and then delivered a walk-off RBI single that scored Redman in the bottom of the ninth. It was Ertmer's first-ever game as a Rambler. Redman cracked two more hits a day after reaching base in all four plate appearances in the semifinal win over Cascade.

Redman was far from a lone wolf in Farley. Chris Briggs set the tone in the 13-2 blowout of Bellevue with a first-inning grand slam. Ryan Siems then surfaced with the key hit in the semifinals when he crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning versus Cascade. On the mount, Woltkamp was a horse, working all seven innings against Cascade on Saturday and then 5.1 frames in Sunday's championship.

Prior to this season, Key West's longest win streak was a 10-game unbeaten run in 2014. The team's 15-2 start equals the 2012 squad for best record after the first 17 games of a season. That Rambler edition finished the year at 40-12 overall.

2016 Farley Tournament results
First Round - W, 8-0 (5 inn.) vs. Dubuque
Quarterfinals - W, 13-2 (5 inn.) vs. Bellevue
Semifinals - W, 7-4 vs. Cascade
Championship - W, 3-2 vs. Farley

Siems, Key West rally for 10th-straight win

Late leads are not safe for opponents of the Ramblers. On Tuesday night Key West rallied from a 3-1 deficit to record its 10th-straight victory. The latest outing resulted in a 6-4 victory over Cascade in an Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League affair. The Ramblers moved to 11-2 overall (5-1 EIHL) while tying a team record set by the 2014 squad for most consecutive victories.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Key West put up a trio of runs after Ben Oglesby (single) and Anthony Razo (walk) set the table to begin the frame. Nate Ramler drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and a Cascade error and a base hit by Siems brought home two more. After Cascade tied the game in the top of the sixth, the Ramblers responded with two more runs to provide the winning margin.

Siems went 2-for-3 on Tuesday and is now a blistering 20-for-35 (.571) on the year. He helped back a pitching staff that used Austin Bradley (4.2 innings) and Kenny Capesius (2.1) to navigate the seven-inning contest. Although Capesius allowed his first earned run of the season, he improved to 4-0 this season and is now 16-2 in his career with the Ramblers.

Key West is now off until Sunday's first round action at the Farley Tournament. The Ramblers will take on Dubuque in Farley at 1:30 p.m. Key West won Farley titles in 2011 and 2014.

Key West conquers Bellevue

For the first time in team history, Key West celebrated a Bellevue Tournament championship. The Ramblers shook off a 4-1 deficit with a four-run eighth inning and claimed a 5-4 victory over host Bellevue in Saturday's title game. Key West has now won eight-straight games and sits at 9-2 overall (heading into Sunday's action).

The red-hot Ramblers advanced to the championship game by earning wins over Farley, 6-5, Peosta, 5-3, Cascade, 9-4, and Bellevue while making their way through the bracket. In Friday evening's semifinal triumph, Nick Woltkamp tossed a complete game for his third win of the season. At the plate, Andrew Redman went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs, Ryan Siems went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Dan Spain connected for a monster solo homer in the third.

The win over Cascade set the stage for the team's first tournament title of 2016. Redman, named the MVP of the Bellevue Tournament, continued his big early season performance with two more hits in the championship. His two-run double in the eighth was part of a run of five-straight Key West hits that vaulted it into the lead. Redman also knocked in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to score Anthony Razo, who led off the game with a triple.

Afterwards Redman told the Telegraph Herald, "We didn't always make the plays behind our pitchers, but they stayed positive and kept battling. And we just kept chipping away until we won. We had to come from behind late to beat Farley, and we had to do it again tonight against Bellevue."

Anthony Ruden tossed six solid innings, but got a no decision despite striking out 10. He retired the first nine hitters he faced and surrendered just one earned run. Austin Bradley (winning pitcher) worked the seventh and eighth innings and gave up one unearned run. Redman then pitched in with a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.

Redman (2-for-3), Chris Briggs (2-for-4) and Razo (2-for-5) each had two hits in the title game for the Ramblers. Key West totaled nine hits as a team.

The Ramblers were back in action Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. Prairie League contest at AJ Spiegel Park in Peosta scheduled.

Ramblers advance to Bellevue semifinals, push win streak to six

Winner of 44 games a year ago, Key West has gotten on a roll again after dropping two of its first three games to begin 2016. Thanks to their latest win, a 5-3 Bellevue tournament quarterfinal win over Peosta on Wednesday, the Ramblers (7-2) have won six-straight games. In the victory over Peosta, Key West followed the lead of Andrew Redman on the mound and the hot bat of Ryan Siems.

A Clarke University standout, Siems went 3-for-4 and sparked a two-run second inning that put the Ramblers on top. Siems (now a scorching 13-for-21 on the season) delivered a one-out single and then scored on Nick Woltkamp's triple. Key West then got a run apiece in the third, fifth and sixth inning to provide enough cushion for Redman, who earned his 21st career win as a Rambler.

Redman tossed all seven innings and allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out 10. It was his first appearance on the mound since early in 2015. Last season Redman fired 24 innings without surrendering a single earned run, lowering his career ERA to 1.71.

In other recent action, Key West stacked wins over Rickardsville, 6-5 (May 24), Farley, 6-5 (May 29) and Dyersville, 9-1 (May 31). The triumph over Farley came in the opening round of the Bellevue tournament. In addition to Redman's fine work, Kenny Capesius has run off 17-straight innings without giving up an earned run to begin the season. He owns a perfect 3-0 record.

A spot in the Bellevue title game will be on the line on Friday when the Ramblers take on Cascade at 8:30 p.m. The other semifinal matchup (7 p.m.) features host Bellevue against Epworth. The two winners will meet at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the championship game. Key West has never won the Bellevue tournament, but has finished runner up (2012) and in third place (2015) in the bracket in recent seasons.