Monday, August 15, 2016

Ramblers motor past 40 wins


All Key West has done since capturing the Dyersville Tournament title is continue to win. The Ramblers have strung together 12-straight victories entering play on Monday night (Aug. 15) at the EIHL playoffs in Farley. Key West, now 41-5 overall, posted another tournament win on Sunday evening with a 5-3 triumph over the Dubuque Budweisers in the first round of the Peosta tourney.

In Sunday's win, Dan Spain tossed a complete game and was backed by Tanner Lupton and Nick Woltkamp, who both went 2-for-3. Lupton doubled twice and drove in three runs while Woltkamp tripled and scored a pair of runs. The red-hot Woltkamp is now hitting .355 with 13 extra base hits over 44 games in 2016.

In other recent action, the Ramblers pummeled both Holy Cross, 18-4, and Zwingle, 11-1. Then on Aug. 11, Key West shook off a six-run first inning by the Dubuque Packers and rallied for a 7-6 victory in EIHL action. Key West now owns league records of 12-1 in the EIHL and 9-0 in the Prairie League.

Leading hitter Ryan Siems has continued his tear. He knocked out four hits in the championship win at the Dyersville Tournament. He added another four hits in the drubbing of Holy Cross and a double and a triple in the thrashing of Zwingle. He's now slashing .441 (AVG) / .477 (OBP) / .676 (SLG) with four homers, 14 doubles and 38 RBIs.

Meanwhile, Woltkamp has surpassed 100 innings pitched for the second-straight season. The ace of the Rambler staff is now 12-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 102.2 innings. He's tossed eight complete games while holding opposing hitters to a .229 batting average.

The team record for wins in a season was set last year when Key West went 44-14-1 overall. They've never lost fewer than 12 times in a campaign. The Ramblers entered Monday with an all-time record of 359-208-1 since returning the semi-pro circuit in 2004.

Monday's EIHL playoff semifinal was set to begin at 8:30 p.m. from Farley, where top-seeded Key West was readying to play fourth-seeded Cascade. The winner advances to Wednesday's championship game.

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