Ramblers grab sixth-straight Prairie League win, defeat East Dubuque

Since dropping their Prairie League opener, the Ramblers have now reeled off six-straight in league play after Wednesday night's 6-4 victory at East Dubuque. Key West (20-6) got out to a 6-2 lead on the strength of a three-run second and two-run third to claim its 20th win of the 2014 season, equaling the team's win total from 2013.

Starting pitcher Austin Bradley had given up only six hits in 26 innings of work coming into Wednesday's action. East Dubuque tagged him for seven hits and four runs (three earned) over Bradley's five innings, but the outing was still good enough for Bradley to move to 4-0 on the season. He continues to lead the Rambler pitching staff with a .126 opponent batting average.

EIHL all-star second baseman Andrew Redman bumped his team best average to .443 with a 2-for-3 evening that included a fourth-inning sacrifice fly that capped Key West's scoring. Redman also singled, stole a base and scored a run on Jake Schaeffer's RBI single in the top of the third.

Catcher Chad Crabill also went 2-for-3. He scored a run each in the second and third innings.

Dan Spain, 1-for-4 at the plate on the day, relieved Bradley on the mound in the sixth. Spain retired all six hitters he faced to pick up his first save of the season. Spain has surrendered just a single run in 15 innings this season.

The Ramblers are back in action on Thursday (July 10). They host Peosta at 7 p.m. in another Prairie League battle.

Four league games rescheduled

Four games that had been postponed due to either weather or tournament conflicts have now been rescheduled. The complete schedule can be viewed by clicking the link at the top right of the website.

Rescheduled games:
Thu., July 10 - Peosta (Home) - 7 p.m.
Fri., July 11 - Monticello (Home) - 7 p.m.
Fri., July 18 - East Dubuque (Home) - 7 p.m.
Wed., July 30 - Balltown (Home) - 7 p.m.

Capesius moves to 4-0 in rout of New Vienna

Kenny Capesius bumped his record to 4-0 by hurling eight shutout innings in a 9-0 home victory over New Vienna in Sunday's Prairie League contest. In Capesius' support, the Ramblers pounded out 14 hits to shake off a 3-0 loss to Farley at the Rickardsville Tournament on Saturday. Key West now sits at 19-6 overall and 5-1 in the Prairie League.

After allowing a leadoff single, Capesius settled in and struck out the side in the top of the first. He racked up five more K's on the day and held New Vienna to only four hits and one walk. Capesius lowered his ERA to 2.14 in 33.2 innings on the season.

Offensively, first baseman Chris Briggs continues to heat up. He went 3-for-5 with an RBI single in both the third and eighth innings. The Ramblers put the game out of reach with a four-run eighth that included a two-run single from second baseman Chad Crabill.

Briggs was one of five Ramblers with multiple hits. He was joined by Austin Bradley (2-for-4, run, two stolen bases), Brett LaMere (2-for-4, two RBIs, one run), Dan Spain (2-for-4, three runs, double) and Anthony Ruden (2-for-5, two runs, one RBI, one stolen base).

Bradley, who played the first eight innings in right field, relieved Capesius in the ninth. Bradley duplicated his scoreless frame from the day before. In 26 innings of work this season, Bradley has surrendered just six hits and a single run.

The Ramblers get back to EIHL action on Tuesday night when they host Farley at 7 p.m.

Cascade Tournament: Key West will play Dubuque in the first round on Saturday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Briggs goes deep twice in blowout at Rickardsville

First baseman Chris Briggs crushed his first two home runs of the season (24th and 25th of career) to lead Key West (18-5) to a 12-2, 10-run rule victory at Rickardsville on Wednesday night. The red-hot Ramblers have now won 12 of their last 13 games and are 6-1 in EIHL play.

Briggs (3-for-5) joined Andrew Redman (3-for-4) and Dan Spain (3-for-5) as Ramblers with three hits as part of the 15-hit team outburst. Spain also homered, bringing him with in one long ball of Redman's team high of four.

On the mound, Jordan Hohensee picked up the win to move to 7-1 in his eight starts. Hohensee is set to start on the hill for the EIHL at the all-star game on July 12.

After leading Rickardsville just 5-2 at the end of six innings, Key West exploded with four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to propel it to a second-straight win by the 10-run rule.

Anthony Ruden went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles.

Dating back to August of 2011, the Ramblers have won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Rickardsville.

Key West will return to Rickardsville for first round action at the Rickardsville Tournament on Saturday. The Ramblers will take on Farley at 12 p.m.

Bradley fires no-hitter in 10-run rule win at Placid

On Sunday right-handed pitcher Austin Bradley did something no Rambler had done since the team's rebirth in 2004. Bradley tossed a no-hitter as Key West breezed to an 10-0 victory in eight innings at Placid. The win gave the Ramblers their 11th in the past 12 games and bumped their overall mark to 17-5.

Bradley, a member of the Ellsworth Community College baseball team, has been another dependable arm for a dominant Rambler pitching staff in 2014. After Sunday's outing, Bradley has allowed just a single run in 24 innings of work, giving him a near spotless 0.38 ERA over six appearances.

As part of Key West's 11-hit attack, Kenny Capesius, Brett LaMere, Ben Oglesby and Luis Reyes all went 2-for-4. The Ramblers got one home run apiece from LaMere, Oglesby and Andrew Redman, who has a team high four long balls on the year.

Coach John Knabel even drove in a pair of runs with a base hit in the top of the eighth. The two-run single allowed the Ramblers to win by the 10-run rule as Sam Nelman took the loss for host Placid.

Key West returns to action on Wednesday for an EIHL game at Rickardsville. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. The Ramblers sport an EIHL record of 5-1.

Ramblers rally to top Dubuque, earn 10th-straight win

Key West got the big hit it needed in a battle of top-notch pitchers at the Worthington Tournament on Tuesday night. The Ramblers rallied for a 2-1 first-round win over Dubuque behind ace Jordan Hohensee. The victory was the 10th in a row for Key West (16-4), which has now won the last three meetings with the Blues.

Down 1-0 in the top of the seventh, shortstop Dan Spain delivered a two-out, two-run single off Dubuque starter Reed Stumpf. Hohensee made the one-run lead stand up by tossing up another zero in the bottom of the seventh to send Key West to the quarterfinals of Worthington.

Hohensee has now fired a complete game in all seven of his starts. He's 6-1 over eight appearances that have covered 57 innings. The Clarke University hurler will get the ball for the EIHL all-stars on Saturday, July 13. He limited Dubuque to just three hits.

Both Spain (2-for-4) and Justin Kuhle (2-for-3) recorded two hits for the Ramblers, who were held to five total hits by Stumpf.

Key West will return to action in Worthington for a quarterfinal clash with Cascade, which got past Bellevue, 7-4, on Tuesday night. The Ramblers topped Cascade 4-2 on May 10 in the season opener.

Three Ramblers named to 2014 all-star game

A trio of Ramblers have been named starters for the 27th annual Telegraph Herald Semi Pro All-Star Game. Jordan Hohensee (pitcher), Andrew Redman (second base) and Dan Spain (third base) will represent Key West when the 2014 all-star game plays out on Saturday, July 12. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. from Worthington Memorial Ballpark in Worthington, Iowa.

Hohensee has starred as one of the top pitchers in the Eastern Iowa semi pro circuit this season for the 15-4 Ramblers. The Clarke University hurler is 5-1 with a 1.08 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 50 innings of work. He has fired complete games in all six of his starts.

Redman, known best for his work on the mound in past seasons, has made a huge splash at the plate in 2014. He is the Ramblers' leading hitter with a .458 batting average (27-for-59) in 17 games. Redman has added three homers and 14 RBIs and sports an impressive .562 on-base percentage and .712 slugging percentage.

Spain, MVP of the 2012 all-star game, has been red hot from the batter's box. He is hitting .400 (28-for-70) with two home runs and team leading totals of 19 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 17 games. The Clarke University head baseball coach has an OPS of just under 1.000.

In 2013, both Spain and Tim Carty started in the all-star game. The Prairie League won 8-7 in Peosta.

2014 ALL-STAR ROSTERS

Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League

Coach: Lenny Tekippe, Rickardsville

P: Jordan Hohensee, Key West

C: Ben Ogden, Worthington

1B: Ryan Jantsch, Rickardsville

2B: Andrew Redman, Key West

3B: Dan Spain, Key West

SS: Austin Gehl, Cascade

LF: Regan Takes, Cascade

CF: Pat Grau, Farley

RF: Craig Kerper, Farley

DH: Jeff Lehmann, Rickardsville

Reserves:

Tom Andrews, Cascade

Mark Hennessy, Dubuque

Seth Hoerner, Dubuque

Levi Lawrence, Dyersville

Nate Steger, Dyersville

Jacob Thompson, Monticello

Nathan Hall, Rickardsville

Travis Rahe, Worthington

Prairie League

Coach: Chet Knake, Bellevue

P: Cody Reimer, Peosta

C: Cooper Stewart, Bellevue

1B: Brett Featherston, Epworth

2B: Carlo Rivera, Bernard

3B: Chet Knake, Bellevue

SS: David Rodriguez, Bernard

LF: Sergio Cruz, Peosta

CF: Cole Reeg, Bellevue

RF: Travis Lyons, Zwingle

DH: Bill Albee, East Dubuque

Reserves:

Kyle Behnke, Balltown

Rob Reed, Bernard

Jack Hoffman, East Dubuque

Gavin Nadermann, Epworth

Graham Houselog, Holy Cross

Nate Weber, New Vienna

Matt Moore, Placid

Ryan Hill, Zwingle