Ramblers thank supporters of team fundraiser

The Key West Ramblers would like to thank all those who supported the April 27 team fundraiser at Happy's Place. More than 250 tickets were sold, raising money for the team and for Research For The Cure.

2014 schedule announced

The 2014 Key West Ramblers schedule has been released. The slate will be adjusted throughout the season to reflect changes and tournament additions. The Ramblers are scheduled to play 15 Prairie League games and 14 EIHL games.

View the complete schedule HERE or via the link at the top right of the page.

Ramblers to host fundraiser at Happy's Place on Sunday, April 27

The Key West Ramblers will hold a team fundraiser on Sunday, April 27 from 1 - 5 p.m. at Happy's Place in Dubuque. Happy's is located at 2323 Rockdale Road.

Tickets can be purchased for $20 at any of the area places listed in the flyer posted below or by calling John Knabel. The purchase comes with a chicken and ham dinner.

Key West matched against East Dubuque in first round at Bellevue

The 2014 Bellevue Baseball tournament pairings have been released. Key West will take on East Dubuque at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 25 in first-round action. The full bracket is posted below.

 

Pairings set for EIHL Pre-Season Tournament

The Key West Ramblers are set to begin the 2014 season on Saturday, May 10 at the EIHL Pre-Season Tournament to be held in Worthington. Key West will take on Cascade at 7 p.m. in the first round of the annual tourney. The complete tournament bracket is posted below.

Season comes to end with loss at Peosta Tournament

A sometimes frustrating 2013 season came to an end on Sunday afternoon in the first round of the Peosta Tournament at A.J. Spiegel Park. Cascade topped the Ramblers 7-1 in another sloppy affair, dropping Key West to a final overall mark of 20-20 on the year.

Andrew Redman started on the mound for Key West and looked sharp in holding Cascade scoreless through the first three frames. He struck out the side in both the first and second innings on the way to a nine-strikeout game. Cascade eventually put two on the board in the fourth with the help of a giving Rambler defense.

The Reds tagged Redman for six hits over their final two innings at the plate to tack on five more runs to put the game out of the reach of a struggling Rambler offense. Key West's offensive woes in tournaments continued as Pat Weber started on the hill for the Reds.

The Ramblers only run came in the fifth when Anthony Ruden cracked an RBI double. That was one of only four hits on the game for Key West, which managed just four runs over its final four tournament games of the season.

Other than offensive struggles in big games, the Ramblers also were victimized by poor defense throughout the season. Key West let in three more unearned runs on Sunday, bringing the season total to 44. In other words, 33.6 percent of the 131 runs scored by Rambler opponents in 2013 were unearned.

Cory Davidson finished the 2013 season as the team batting champion with a .359 clip in 25 games. Chris Briggs led the Ramblers with 30 RBIs and a .462 slugging percentage. Redman paced the team in most pitching categories, including wins (6 - tied with Matt Lozano), innings (61), strikeouts (65) and lowest batting average against (.194).

After qualifying for the playoffs in both the EIHL and Prairie League the past six years running, the Ramblers failed to reach the championship bracket of either league this season.

Redman shuts out Farley as Ramblers roll

Piggy-backing on Kenny Capesius' seven scoreless innings of work on Saturday, ace right-hander Andrew Redman tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout at Farley on Monday night. That performance propelled Key West (20-19) to a 7-0 victory over Farley and pushed it back over .500 on the season. With the win, the Ramblers finished 7-7 in EIHL games.

The game remained scoreless until the fourth when Dan Spain doubled and Chris Briggs singled to drive in the Rambler shortstop. The RBI gave Briggs 30 for the year, marking his fourth-consecutive season with 30 or more RBIs.

Key West then got one in the fifth, two in the sixth and three more in the seventh to provide Redman plenty of breathing room. Matt Bedell enjoyed another nice game with two hits in four at bats. He cracked an RBI single each in the sixth and seventh to increase the cushion.

Gabe Wingert (2-for-4) and Briggs (2-for-4) joined Bedell as Ramblers with two hits in the game.

Redman held Farley to only four hits and a walk. He struck out eight on the way to boosting his record to 6-3, tying him with Matt Lozano for the most wins on the team. Redman carries a 1.96 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 55 innings this season.

After reaching the playoffs of both the EIHL and the Prairie League the last six years running, the Ramblers have failed to qualify for either championship bracket this season. Key West captured Prairie League titles in 2008, 2011 and 2012 and was runner up in 2009. The Ramblers were also EIHL runner up in 2010 and 2011.

Key West will be in action on Sunday in the first round of the Peosta Tournament - the final town tournament of the 2013 season. The Ramblers take on Cascade at 1 p.m. at A.J. Spiegel Park.