Ramblers finish third at Rickardsville Tourney

Due to postponements, Key West ended up playing all four of its Rickardsville Tournament games in span of four days (July 22-25). The Ramblers ultimately finished third amongst the field of 19 teams at Rickardsville, marking Key West's fourth tournament placement of 2016. In Monday's consolation game, the Ramblers toppled Bernard, 4-1, behind a complete game outing from Dan Spain in his first start on the mound this season.

Prior to Monday, Nick Woltkamp started each of Key West's first three games in Rickardsville. He pitched a gem in the quarterfinals, surrendering just a single hit over seven innings in a 3-2 win over Peosta. He also earned the win in a 10-6 decision over Dubuque in the first round. That victory avenged a semifinal loss to Dubuque in the Cascade Tournament.

Chris Briggs homered in the win over Dubuque. Woltkamp did the same in the 7-5 defeat at the hands of Bellevue in the semifinals. Woltkamp fired 11 innings on Sunday before giving way to the Key West bullpen, which, along with a sloppy defense, failed to hold the lead versus Bellevue. Woltkamp also went 5-for-12 at the plate during the four-game tournament run.

The Ramblers (30-5) are now 15-4 in tournament action this season. They own tourney titles at Bellevue and at Farley.

Forever a Rambler: Kenny Capesius

When Key West returned to the semi-pro baseball circuit in 2004, Kenny Capesius was there. Then just a youngster, Capesius regularly attended Rambler games, serving as a bat boy and chaser of foul balls. It seemed it was his destiny to some day become a Rambler himself.

His hopes of wearing Key West royal blue became reality in 2007 when Capesius appeared in his first game for the Ramblers. Little did anyone know, it was just a start for the La Motte, Iowa, native, who went on to play baseball at Dubuque Senior High School before becoming a fixture out of the bullpen for NCAA Division III Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

"Kenny Cat," as some teammates refer to him as, may never play again for the Ramblers after manning left field in the 8-3 win over Bernard at the Cascade Tournament on Saturday. The next day Capesius packed up and embarked on a new journey, one that will take him to Washington, D.C., where he will work as a paralegal at a law firm. It will be a precursor to law school for the bright-minded Capesius.

An avid Cubs fan, Capesius displayed an unwavering passion for the game of baseball and a positive attitude matched by few. His talents go beyond the baseball diamond. At Cornell Capesius busied himself as class president of the student senate and as a member of mock trial. He was academic all-conference every season while throwing a total of 38.1 innings for the Rams.

With a career record of 18-3 with Key West, Capesius possesses the best winning percentage of any pitcher in Rambler history. This season Capesius allowed just a single earned run over his first 31 innings while putting together an all-star worthy season as a right-handed sidewinder. Capesius has gone 6-1 with a 1.32 ERA in 2016.

The Key West Ramblers wish Kenny the best of luck in Washington, D.C.

Ramblers take third place at Cascade

Bouncing back from a rough semifinal loss to Dubuque, Key West salvaged a third-place finish with an 8-3 victory over Bernard on Saturday evening in the consolation game at the Cascade Tournament. The Ramblers (26-4) jumped out to an 8-0 lead by taking advantage of sloppy defensive play by Bernard while riding the dependable right arm of Nick Woltkamp.

Woltkamp, now 8-1 as a pitcher, also came through with the bat, delivering a two-run double that increased Key West's lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning of Saturday's contest. Chris Briggs had broken a 0-0 draw in the fourth with an RBI single. Ryan Siems also supplied a run-scoring base hit in the fifth. Three unearned runs came across in the sixth thanks to three-straight infield errors committed by Bernard in the sixth.

Making his ninth start on the mound, Woltkamp held Bernard scoreless until the sixth inning. The righty workhorse worked all seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Woltkamp owns a 2.15 ERA over 62.2 innings this season.

Brett LaMere (2-for-4) and Ben Oglesby (2-for-3, two runs) both collected two hits apiece. Playing his final game for the foreseeable future as a Rambler, Kenny Capesius drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the fourth.

Key West will get another shot at the Dubuque Budweisers, the Cascade Tournament runner up, on Tuesday (July 19) when it begins play at the Rickardsville Tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m.

LaMere homers, drives in four to power win at Worthington

Brett LaMere broke open a tight game in the top of the ninth with a three-run homer that helped lift Key West to its 24th victory over its past 25 games. LaMere drove in four runs on Thursday evening as the Ramblers topped host Worthington, 7-3, in an EIHL contest. Key West (25-3) is now 9-1 in EIHL action.

Worthington had cut into a 3-0 Rambler lead in the bottom of the seventh when back-to-back walks to begin the frame led to a pair of runs. Key West then opened up a five-run lead after Nick Woltkamp singled in a run and LaMere followed with his three-run blast to left. LaMere also knocked in a run with a fielder's choice in the top of the first.

The Ramblers notched a total of 13 hits and frequently missed out on opportunities to pad what became a tenuous advantage. Andrew Redman (3-for-3, two walks), Woltkamp (2-for-4), Anthony Razo (2-for-5) and Anthony Ruden (2-for-5) each recorded at least two hits. Redman (.431 average in 2016) also scored twice on a night when he reached base in all five plate appearances.

On the mound, Art Martinez picked up his second win of the season. He went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks. He was lifted after walking the first two hitters in the seventh. Austin Bradley then got the final nine outs of the game and earned his fourth save of the year, breaking a team record for saves in a single season.

The Ramblers will return to Cascade on Friday (July 15) for the semifinals of the Cascade Tournament. Key West must defeat the Dubuque Budweisers to advance to Saturday's championship. Friday's first pitch is slated for 8:30 p.m.

Ramblers collect 12 hits, advance to Cascade semifinals

Behind starting hurler Nick Woltkamp, Key West raced out to a 5-0 lead and held on for a 6-3 victory in Wednesday night's second round action at the Cascade Tournament. By way of eliminating Peosta, the Ramblers (24-3) have advanced to the semifinals of the Cascade Tournament for the first time in team history as they continue to seek their first-ever title in the town of Cascade.

Behind a run-scoring double by Brett LaMere and a two-run double by Anthony Razo, Key West vaulted itself to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. The Ramblers got two more off Ryan Kelly in the top of the second courtesy of a passed ball and Chad Crabill RBI single. Key West's final run came in the fourth when Andrew Redman doubled in Dan Spain.

Woltkamp and reliever Trey Ertmer effectively scattered nine hits, three walks and two hit batters over the seven-inning contest. Woltkamp (7-1) routinely wiggled out of jams during his five innings of work. He allowed six hits and two walks but surrendered just a single run while striking out four.

Chris Briggs, Razo and Anthony Ruden each went 2-for-4 for the Ramblers. Nine different Key West hitters registered at least one hit on the evening.

The Ramblers are back in action tonight (July 14) with an EIHL game at Worthington  (7 p.m.). They resume action from the Cascade Tournament on Friday when they take on the Dubuque Budweisers at 8:30 p.m. in the semifinals. Key West has won 23 of its last 24 games.

Bradley homers twice; Woltkamp earns all-star W

Key West has now won 22 of 23 after going 4-0 this past week. In Saturday's 15-2 trouncing of Balltown, Austin Bradley connected for the first two home runs of his Rambler career while also picking up the win on the mound. Two days earlier, Key West (23-3) toppled Farley, 4-0, to advance to the second round of the Cascade Tournament.

The Ramblers got out to a massive early lead thanks to a 10-run first inning versus Balltown. During the frame, Key West sent 13 hitters to the plate and took advantage of six walks. Included in the outburst was Andrew Redman's third home run of the season. Bradley then added to the lead with a solo blast in the third and a grand slam in the fourth. He also fired 2.1 innings without allowing a single hitter to reach base. Bradley went 3-for-4 in powering the offensive attack. In addition, Nick Woltkamp went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.

In the tournament win over Farley, Redman and Kenny Capesius combined to shut out the Hawks, who were limited to four hits. Redman tossed the first five innings before giving way to Capesius. Owner of a near perfect 0.29 ERA, Capesius received credit for the win by throwing scoreless sixth and seventh innings.

The game's only runs were pushed across in the bottom of the sixth when run-scoring singles were delivered by Ryan Siems, Woltkamp and Brett LaMere. Both Redman and Siems went 2-for-3 in the win. Key West is aiming for its first-ever Cascade Tournament title. The Ramblers have won a total of 13 tournament titles since the start of 2011.

Key West returns to action at the Cascade Tournament on Wednesday (July 13) when it takes on Peosta in the second round. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

Woltkamp earns all-star win
Nick Woltkamp got the nod as the starting pitcher for the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League in Saturday's annual Telegraph Herald Semi-Pro All-Star Game. Woltkamp routinely worked out of jams while throwing five shutout frames in helping the EIHL to a 4-2 win over the Prairie League. Andrew Redman and Anthony Ruden also represented the Ramblers in the all-star game that took place at Farley Park. John Knabel served as coach of the EIHL.

Ramblers push league winning streak to 11

While Key West's overall 18-game win streak fell by the wayside at last week's Worthington Tournament, the Ramblers have extended their winning streak in league action to 11 by taking games over both Epworth (July 3) and Farley (July 5) this week. Key West (21-3) is now 8-1 in the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League and 4-0 in Prairie League action.

In Sunday's 6-2 win at Epworth, the Ramblers did most of their damage in the third inning when they scored five times. Key West pushed across six runs in the contest despite being limited to six hits. Dan Spain went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup and Austin Simmons fired four innings and improved to 3-0 this season.

Then on Tuesday night, the Ramblers returned to Peosta and drubbed Farley, 8-0, behind six shutout innings from all-star game starter Nick Woltkamp, who tops the team with six victories this season. He tossed six innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out two. At the plate, Woltkamp went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs as part of the five-run second inning. Andrew Redman also went 2-for-4 and Anthony Ruden added two RBIs.

In relief of Woltkamp, Capesius worked a scoreless seventh inning, lowering his sparkling ERA to 0.31 in 29 innings this season. Capesius has surrendered only 15 hits, eight walks and three total runs and sports a record of 5-0. Woltkamp (6-1), Capesius (5-0), Redman (3-0) and Simmons (3-0) each have three wins or more.

Tournament action is scheduled to resume on Thursday night with Key West opening up with Farley in the first round of the Cascade Tournament. First pitch is slated for 8:30 p.m. View the full bracket HERE.