Late rally lifts Ramblers to Dyersville semifinals

A day after taking a 16-5 bludgeoning from Cascade in EIHL play, the Ramblers rebounded with a 4-3 win over that same Cascade team in the quarterfinals of the Dyersville Tournament. Key West (35-10) got a strong performance from starting pitcher Ryan Kelly and Cory Davidson came through at the plate Wednesday evening at Jenk Field.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth against Cascade pitcher Pat Weber, Davidson sparked a three-run rally with a one-out triple. After back-to-back hit batters and a wild pitch tied the score at 2-2, a Chris Briggs' sacrifice fly and a Kelly RBI single put the Ramblers ahead 4-2.

Key West maintained its two-run lead until the top of the seventh when Cascade tried to stage a comeback. Tom Andrews led off with a single and scored on a one-out double by Calvin Rea. But Kelly retired Tim Andrews on a pop out on the mound and then struck out Dan Lynch swinging to end the game.

Kelly got his fourth win of the season in a complete seven-inning outing. He allowed seven hits, two walks, three runs (one earned) and struck out eight.

Davidson broke out of his slump with a 2-for-3 effort that included a double, a triple and a run. Briggs finished 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI.

The Ramblers advance to Friday's semifinals when they play Bellevue at 8:30 p.m. Dyersville and Zwingle will battle at 6:30 p.m. in the other semifinal matchup. Bellevue topped Rickardsville 8-5 on Wednesday.

The winners will play in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The losers challenge each other in the consolation game at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

NOTES: Key West's win over Cascade on Wednesday also counted as an EIHL victory for a game originally scheduled on July 20 between the two teams. With the wins, the Ramblers tied their franchise mark of 35 victories in a season. Key West finished at 35-13 in 2011 ... The Ramblers are seeking their first Dyersville Tournament championship in team history. Earlier this season they won the Worthington Tournament for the first time ever ... Chris Briggs now has 47 RBIs on the season, a figure that shatters his previous team record of 35 RBIs (2010) in one season. Briggs has also broken records for home runs (10) and total bases (103) in 2012 ... The final town tournament for Key West in the 2012 season will be the Peosta Tournament. Pairings have not yet been announced.

Dominant pitching fuels perfect weekend

Behind a pair of masterful pitching performances the Ramblers notched three wins over the weekend, including a 1-0 pitcher's duel over Farley at the Dyersville Tournament. That victory also counted as a Prairie League win, meaning Key West (33-9) will have Monday off.

Andrew Redman continued his incredible 2012 season on Saturday in the first round triumph at the Dyersville Tournament. Redman, despite developing a blister on his pitching hand, fired six shutout innings while limiting Farley to only two hits and two walks. The right-hander is now 8-1 with a 1.35 ERA.

Sean O'Connor got the final three outs in the seventh inning to get the save. O'Connor has yet to allow an earned run in 19 innings of work this season.

Andy Seabrooke was nearly as good as Redman on the other side, but the Ramblers got the only run they would need in the very first inning when Chris Briggs' sacrifice fly brought home Dan Spain, who reached on a double. Seabrooke took the loss despite giving up only four hits.

On Sunday another Key West starting pitcher turned in a sparkling performance as Aaron Collins shined in a 3-1 victory over Bernard. Making his fourth start of the season, Collins threw six innings, surrendering four hits, four walks and one earned run to go with a pair of punch outs. Collins' fourth win of the season was preserved by Shawn Parker, a former Simpson College pitcher, who earned the save with a scoreless seventh inning.

The Ramblers got two runs in the second and one in the third off of Bernard pitcher Eric DeSousa. Parker started the game in left field in led the way with a 2-for-3 day that included a run scored.

Key West is back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Cascade at A.J. Spiegel Park in Peosta at 7 p.m. in an EIHL game. The Ramblers will play Cascade again on Wednesday when they resume play in the quarterfinal round of the Dyersville Tournament.

Dubuque tops Ramblers again

Fueled by a clutch two-run homer by Tim Carty in the bottom of the eighth, the Ramblers rallied back for a 4-4 tie before falling 5-4 to Dubuque on Tuesday night in Peosta. For the sixth time in eight meetings this season, Dubuque got the best of Key West in a battle of area powers.

Dubuque designated hitter Aaron Sauegling singled off of reliever Ryan Kelly with one out in the top of the ninth and ultimately scored on a wild pitch for the game's deciding run. The loss was the Ramblers' fourth in their last five games and their third straight against the Blues.

Key West (30-9) got on top early with a pair of runs off Doug Eisenman in the first inning, highlighted by an RBI single delivered by Chris Briggs. The Ramblers were able to take advantage of two Dubuque errors in the frame.

That lead held up for Rambler starting pitcher Spencer Kuehn until the fourth inning when Dubuque capitalized on back-to-back one-out walks and an error to push across two unearned runs to knot the score at 2-2.

Kuehn gave way to Kelly at the end of six innings with the score still tied. Kuehn struck out seven and surrendered only two hits and no earned runs, but did struggle at times with control (five walks).

More wildness proved problematic in the seventh when Dubuque scored twice to take a 4-2 lead. Kelly issued back-to-back walks with one out and later relinquished an RBI double to Kevin Carkeek. Kelly's own error allowed another unearned Blues run.

Carty's late-inning heroics gave the Ramblers a shot at ending their struggles against Dubuque. But Kelly could not hold the Blues scoreless in the ninth and Key West failed to cross the plate in the bottom of the ninth despite a one-out double from Chad Crabill. Crabill ended the game stranded at third base.

The Ramblers get back to tournament action on Saturday when they play Farley at 6 p.m. as part of the Dyersville Tournament.

Briggs shatters home run record in rout of New Vienna

Chris Briggs' seven home runs entering play on Sunday were enough to tie his own team single-season record set back in 2010. With three home runs in Sunday's 16-0 romp over New Vienna, Briggs shattered the Rambler home run mark and pushed his season RBI total to 43 (also a team record) with six more.

Briggs, who now has 10 home runs on the season, struck out swinging in the first inning when Key West (30-8, 12-1 Prairie League) pushed across a pair of runs to take an early lead. The Ramblers got two more in the second to go ahead 4-0 before the fireworks got started in the third inning.

That's when Briggs connected for his first home run of the day with a solo shot that made the score 5-0. Run-scoring hits by Deon Ploessl, Ryan Kelly and Chad Crabill gave Key West an 8-0 cushion and allowed Briggs to come to the plate for a second time in the frame.

With the bases loaded, the left-handed slugger crushed his second homer of the game to provide the Ramblers a commanding 12-0 lead and capped an eight-run inning.

But Briggs wasn't finished yet. After walking and coming around to score in the fifth inning, the first baseman got one more crack in the top of the seventh. With two outs and no one on base, Briggs clubbed a solo shot, making him just the second Rambler ever with three home runs in a game, and the first to accomplish the feat since Michael Jimenez did so on May 15 of last year in an 18-1 win over Placid.

Briggs finished 3-for-4. Four other Ramblers joined Briggs with multiple hits: Matt Knabel (3-for-5), Ploessl (3-for-5), Crabill (2-for-4) and Kelly (2-for-4).

On the mound, Aaron Collins shined in his third start of the season. He tossed a three-hit, complete game shutout that included 12 strikeouts. Collins is now 3-0 with 26 punch outs in 20 innings on the season.

Key West returns to action on Tuesday when it challenges Dubuque for the final time in league play. The game is set for 7 p.m. in Peosta. Key West and Dubuque have already met seven times this season with Dubuque coming away victorious in five of those contests.

Rambler Notes

-Two additions to the Key West schedule have been announced. The Ramblers have drawn Farley in the first round of the Dyersville Tournament. That game will be played Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. at Dyersville's Jenk Field. On Aug. 5, Key West will play at Bernard at 2:30 p.m. in a Prairie League make-up game. View the entire updated schedule HERE.

-The Ramblers will look to shake off a three-game losing streak when they travel to New Vienna for a 1:30 p.m. contest on Sunday. Saturday's scheduled afternoon Prairie League game was canceled due to a conflict for host Balltown. Instead, Key West (29-8) has been awarded a two-for-one for its 1-0 victory over Balltown on June 23 in the Worthington Tournament.

-A poor all-around showing resulted in a 7-6 upset loss to Worthington in the Ramblers' most recent game this past Tuesday night. Key West committed four errors and relinquished an early 3-0 lead. The Ramblers suffered defeat despite multiple hits from four different players, including two hits each from their top-three batters in the lineup. Spencer Kuehn took the loss in relief (despite four solid innings) of starting pitcher Nick Baldocci.

-The return of Sean O'Connor next week will give Key West a significant boost down the stretch. O'Connor, a former Clarke University standout, was the team's most reliable pitcher last season when he went 10-1 with a 2.36 ERA. In 18 innings of work this season, the right-hander has yet to allow an earned run and sports a 2-0 record, one save and 23 strikeouts.

-Despite the recent three-game slide, the Ramblers' .784 win percentage this season is an improvement from their .729 mark in 2011. Their current win percentage would set a new franchise record since Key West's return to semi-pro baseball in 2004.

-With an 11-1 Prairie League record and 9-2 EIHL mark, the Ramblers are on track to reach the playoffs in both leagues for the sixth-consecutive year, a claim that no other team can make. Key West won Prairie League championships in 2008 and 2011 and was runner up in 2009. The Ramblers have also been EIHL runner up in each of the last two seasons.

Dubuque tags Redman with first loss

Andrew Redman won each of his first seven starts in 2012, but saw his streak snapped Saturday night in a tough-luck 2-1 loss to Dubuque in the first round of the Cascade Tournament. It was the seventh meeting of the season between the two semi-pro heavyweights.

Key West (28-7) drew first blood in the top of the second inning when Justin Kuhle's RBI single off Aaron Saeugling drove home Spencer Kuehn with two outs.

Still leading 1-0 in the top of the fourth, the Ramblers missed out on a golden opportunity to add to their lead. Tim Carty and Kuehn led off the inning with back-to-back singles and then advanced to second and third with one out after a Nick Baldocci sacrifice bunt. But Saeugling struck out Redman and got Kuhle to fly out to center to end the threat.

Dubuque's B.J. Juergens tied the score in the bottom half with an RBI single. Dubuque appeared to have the makings of a big inning with two on and no out, but Redman retired three of the next four hitters to keep the game knotted, 1-1.

Andy Danna then struck for the game-winning RBI in the fifth when his one-out double provided the final tally.

The Ramblers failed to mount a late rally as Saeugling (14 strikeouts on Saturday) retired the final eight Key West hitters of the game to send Dubuque to the next round in Cascade. Kuehn, who went 2-for-3, was the only Rambler to notch multiple hits.

Redman finished with a six-inning complete game in which he allowed two earned runs, seven hits and three walks. The right-hander struck out five.

Saturday's contest marked the third time this season that Key West and Dubuque were paired in the first round of a tournament. Dubuque has won all three of those meetings. The Ramblers' last win over Dubuque came June 29 when they shutout the Blues 5-0 in the semifinals of the Worthington Tournament.

Key West's scheduled Prairie League game with Bellevue on Sunday afternoon was postponed due to Bellevue's tournament game at the Zwingle Fest. The Ramblers will return to action on Tuesday when they host Worthington in Peosta at 7 p.m.

Ramblers fall for first time in Prairie League

The Ramblers entered Thursday's Prairie League battle with Peosta sporting a perfect 9-0 league mark, but a cold night at the plate ended Key West's unbeaten run. Peosta's Zack Brautigam held the Ramblers to just three hits as he picked up the win on the mound in a 3-1 decision.

Missing its top power hitter in first baseman Chris Briggs, the Key West (28-6) lineup went scoreless through the first five frames of the seven-inning affair. Not until Justin Kuhle raced home on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth did the Ramblers tally their first run of the game to pull within 2-1.

Trailing 3-1 in the final inning, Key West went down quietly after Kenny Capesius walked to lead off the inning. Brautigam struck out Tim Carty with a man on first to end the game and snap the Ramblers' nine-game Prairie League winning streak, which dated back to Aug. 17 of last year when Key West lost 6-5 to Bellevue.

Peosta got on top of Rambler starting pitcher Spencer Kuehn early, getting two runs in the bottom of the first with the benefit of three-straight singles with one out. Peosta added one more run in the fifth to provide the final margin.

The loss was the first of the season for Kuehn, who dropped to 5-1. He went all six innings, allowing four hits, four walks and three earned runs in a six-strikeout performance.

Carty, Kuehn and Kuhle each collected a single for the only three Key West hits.

The Ramblers get back to tournament play Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the Cascade Tournament where they face Dubuque once again. Key West is 2-4 this season against Dubuqe. Andrew Redman (7-0, 1.31 ERA) will get the start on the mound for the Ramblers.