Ramblers get back on track, win opening game in Worthington

After a three-game skid, the Key West Ramblers are back in the win column. Nick Woltkamp fired a complete game, delivered a two-run homer and helped lead Key West to an 11-2 win over Dyersville in the first round of the Worthington Tournament on Sunday night. Earlier in the day, the Ramblers suffered a 6-5 loss to Bernard in a Prairie League contest. Key West now stands at 14-8 overall.

In the victory over Dyersville, the Ramblers briefly trailed 1-0 before striking for four runs in the second inning. Dan Spain highlighted the frame with a two run homer. Anthony Razo was aboard for the big fly after knocking in a run with a double. Spain put together a big night, going 3-for-4 with a double, homer, three runs and a pair of RBIs.

Out of the cleanup spot, first baseman Chris Briggs went 4-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Razo (2-for-5) and Woltkamp (2-for-4) also added multiple hits. As a team, the Ramblers rapped out 14 hits. They scored four runs in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Making his eighth start on the mound this season, Woltkamp (7-2) recorded his fourth complete game. Despite striking out only two hitters, Woltkamp allowed just one earned run on 10 hits and two walks. Woltkamp has logged 63.2 innings in 2017.

Key West will play in the quarterfinals of the Worthington Tournament at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday (June 28). Dubuque will serve as the opponent. The Ramblers were originally scheduled to take on Holy Cross on Tuesday. That game will be played at a later date due to a tournament conflict.

Ramblers capture fourth Farley Tournament title

For the fourth time in team history, the Key West Ramblers are champions of the Farley Tournament. In Sunday's championship game, Key West (13-5) defeated Epworth, 5-4. The Ramblers also captured Farley titles in 2011, 2014 and 2016. They are 13-1 over the past four years at the Farley Tournament.

Andrew Redman garnered the Farley Tournament MVP award after an impressive performance with both his arm and bat. Redman fired shutouts in the first round (Cascade) and in the semifinals (Dubuque) to spur Key West into Sunday's title contest. Over his 12 innings of work in Farley, Redman allowed just four hits without surrendering a free pass. He struck out 22 batters, including 13 against Dubuque. Offensively, Redman went 5-for-12 with a home run, a double, three runs, five RBIs, two walks and two stolen bases out of the No. 3 spot in the lineup.

With Redman having pitched on Friday, the Ramblers turned to Nick Woltkamp. He responded by working all nine innings without giving up a single earned run. He scattered nine hits and a walk and then buckled down in the ninth when Epworth put the potential tying run on base.

At the plate, Key West got two hits apiece from Chad Crabill (2-for-5), Ben Oglesby (2-for-3) and Redman (2-for-4). The Ramblers struck early when Redman doubled in a run and Briggs singled in another as part of a two-run first. Redman drove in another run in the second, Key West took advantage of errors for one tally apiece in the fourth and sixth frames.

After drubbing Cascade, 8-0, by the run rule in the first round, Key West managed to triumph in three one-run games on its way to winning a championship. The Ramblers' path included a 4-3 quarterfinal win over Rickardsville and a 1-0 semifinal victory over Dubuque. Key West now has its first tournament title of 2017 after winning five in 2016.

The Ramblers are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday (June 20) when they host Dubuque at 7 p.m. in Peosta. It will be an Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League matchup.

Redman shines in Farley semis; title game moved to Sunday

Andrew Redman blasted a solo homer and tossed a seven-inning, one-hit shutout in Friday's 1-0 Farley Tournament semifinal win over Dubuque. Redman out-dueled Buds hurler Mark Hennessy, avenging Key West's Bellevue Tournament semifinal loss. The Ramblers (12-5) will vie for their third Farley championship in four seasons.

Redman has now tossed shutouts in all three of his starts in 2017. Over 19 innings this season, Redman has allowed no runs and a grand total of five hits. He has struck out 29 hitters to go against zero walks. Redman also fired a five-inning shutout six days earlier in Key West's 8-0 Farley Tournament first-round win over Cascade. Against Dubuque, Redman punched out 13 hitters and did not allow a hit until a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh. Redman struck out the final two batters of the game to end the threat.

In a matchup of elite pitchers, Redman took care of the run production by himself. Leading off the fourth inning, Redman connected for his third homer of the season. It was one of only four Rambler hits off Hennessey, who worked out of a third-inning jam after Key West led the frame off with back-to-back singles.

Epworth has also made its way to the championship game. The contest was originally scheduled to be played at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Due to inclement weather, the game will now be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday (June 18). The postponement provides an extra day of rest for pitcher Nick Woltkamp. Sunday's scheduled league game with Bellevue will be played on a date to be determined.

Ramblers run win streak to four, stage dramatic comeback at Farley Tourney

The Ramblers are in the hunt for another tournament championship. The highlight of recent action was Sunday's 4-3, come-from-behind walk-off victory over Rickardsville in the quarterfinals of the Farley Tournament. The previous day, Key West thumped Cascade, 8-0 (five innings), despite going up against University of Iowa pitcher Drake Robison. Now winners of four in a row, the Ramblers have improved to 11-5 overall (4-1 EIHL, 2-2 PL).

Trailing 3-1 and down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh in the Farley quarterfinals, Key West staged an improbable rally. Chad Crabill started it with a double. Ricky Marinez then reached, after the third strike got away from the catcher, and stole second. Anthony Razo followed with a clutch two-run single to knot the game, 3-3. Dan Spain sent the Ramblers to the semifinals by blooping a walk-off single to score Razo, who had alertly taken second base on a throw to the plate.

The first-round matchup with Cascade featured much less drama. Key West exploded for five runs in the third and three more in the fourth to take a commanding lead. The Ramblers pounded out 15 hits, including three apiece from Chris Briggs, Andrew Redman and Chad Crabill. On the mound, Redman befuddled the Reds in a five-game complete game (shortened by the run rule). The only baserunners reached via three singles. Redman struck out nine hitters without allowing a free pass.

Redman and Nick Woltkamp give John Knabel a great one-two punch in the rotation. The rubber-armed Woltkamp fired all seven innings of the win over Rickardsville. He retired eight of the first nine hitters he faced and did not surrender a run until the fifth frame. Woltkamp has already tossed 40.2 innings this season, posting a 5-1 record and 3.10 ERA. Meanwhile, Redman has yet to give up a run in his first 12 innings in 2017.

A couple of trends continued in recent action. Key West is now 11-1 in its last 12 games at the Farley Tournament with titles coming in 2014 and 2016. The Ramblers have also dominated Rickardsville, winning 18 of the last 21 meetings since the start of the 2012 season.

In league play, Key West handled Monticello, 12-6, in Peosta on Tuesday evening. Woltkamp picked up the win while working three innings in relief. Razo went 4-for-4 with three runs and a pair of RBIs. Matt Stevens tripled twice and Austin Bradley doubled twice. Redman opened up the scoring for the Ramblers with a two-run homer (second of the year) in the bottom of the first.

The quest for its fourth Farley title all-time continues on Friday when Key West goes up against Dubuque in the semifinals at 8:15 p.m. (June 16). The expected pitching matchup is Redman versus Mark Hennessy. The winner will play either Farley or Epworth in the championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday (June 17). The Ramblers are also scheduled to host Bellevue in Peosta at 1 p.m. on Sunday in a Prairie League clash.

Woltkamp stars in early going for Ramblers

It's been somewhat of an up-and-down run for the Key West Ramblers, who are coming off a 49-7 banner 2016 season. After a 1-2 start to 2017, Key West rattled off four victories in a row and advanced to the semifinals of the Bellevue Tournament. The Ramblers settled for a third-place finish, defeating Holy Cross, 9-1, in the consolation game. Key West now stands at 8-5 overall (3-1 EIHL, 2-2 PL).

Nick Woltkamp has been a force at the plate and on the mound. After batting .350 and logging a team record 122.2 innings in 2016, Woltkamp is hitting .421 with 10 extra base hits (including five triples) while appearing in all 13 games so far in 2017. He's made eight appearances on the mound, covering 30.2 innings with a 3.23 ERA and 3-1 record.

The team's best pitching performance to this point belongs to Andrew Redman, who fired a seven-inning, one-hit shutout and faced just one hitter over the minimum in the 2-0 win over Rickardsville at the Bellevue Tournament. Redman struck out seven hitters without surrendering a single walk. Redman entered the season with a career 1.66 ERA since he first put on a Rambler uniform in 2007.

A slow starter in recent years, first baseman Chris Briggs is off to a red hot start. He's gone 11-for-24 (.458) over nine games played. In Thursday's (June 8) come-from-behind win at Dyersville, Briggs went 3-for-4 with a clutch two-run homer in the seventh and final inning. Working in relief, Woltkamp protected a 9-8 lead by working around a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.

Other players that have gotten off to strong starts are Anthony Razo (.400 BA, HR, 10 RBI, 1.190 OPS), Ben Oglesby (.371 BA, .463 OBP, 7 steals) and Redman (.364 BA, HR, 9 RBI, 1.075 OPS). Both Brett LaMere and Woltkamp have played in all 13 games. Oglesby has played in 12.

Despite being no-hit twice this season, Key West is batting .298 with a .403 on-base percentage as a team. The Ramblers have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 84-43. Their pitching staff owns a solid 3.38 ERA though it would like to decrease its walk rate (4.9 free passes per nine innings).

Key West will have another shot at claiming its first tournament championship of 2017 when the Farley Tournament gets underway on Saturday (June 10). The Ramblers have drawn Cascade in a matchup set for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch. John Knabel has led Key West to three Farley Tournament titles (2011, 2014, 2016), including two of the last three.

View tournament brackets:
-Farley
-Worthington
-Cascade