Bellevue Tournament Bracket

This year's annual Bellevue Tournament is set to begin Wednesday at 7 p.m. - if weather allows. The Ramblers are scheduled to play their first game of the tourney on Saturday at 6 p.m. versus Dubuque. The complete tournament bracket is above. Click the image to enlarge.

Rain washes away Tuesday night contest

Only Mother Nature could halt the Ramblers quest for their eighth straight victory, or so it seemed Tuesday night. Key West led Dyersville 2-0 at Peosta in the bottom of the third when strong rains swamped A.J. Spiegel Park and forced the game to be postponed.

Michael Jimenez had driven home the game's first run in the first with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Dan Spain, who had reached on a double. The Ramblers got their second run after Matt Knabel's grounder eluded the third baseman, allowing Cory Davidson to trot home in the second. Andrew Redman completed three shut out innings on the mound in what would have gone down as his first start of the season.

The game with Dyersville will be re-scheduled for a later date. Next up for the Ramblers is Dubuque on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Bellevue Tournament.

Ramblers rally for 10-7 win

The Ramblers found themselves in unfamiliar territory Sunday afternoon, facing a 6-0 deficit as they came to bat in the bottom of the first. But Key West was not about to let Peosta blemish its perfect record.

The Ramblers (7-0) responded with six runs of their own in the first frame in route to a 10-7 Prairie League victory. Jared Munson led off the first with a double, Dan Spain followed with a walk and Michael Jimenez knocked in the first Key West run with a RBI single. Justin Kuhle drove in Spain with a RBI ground out and Alex McKinlay added a RBI single three batters later. Cole Boge then plated a pair of runs with a triple to right field.

Key West went on to score one run each in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Five Ramblers notched multiple hits, including Chris Briggs (3-for-5), Spain (2-for-3), Boge (2-for-4), Jimenez (2-for-4) and Munson (2-for-4). Of the Ramblers' 13 hits, six went for extra bases.

On the mound, Greg Farrey came up big in relief of starter Ethan Carlson, who struggled with his control and was pulled in the first inning. Farrey recorded the win after throwing 4.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Sean O'Connor pitched the final four innings to pick up his first save.

Play resumes Tuesday when the Ramblers entertain Dyersville at 7 p.m. at Peosta. It will be Key West's EIHL home opener.

CHAMPS!

The Ramblers captured the EIHL Tournament championship Saturday night with a 7-1 victory over Farley. Pitcher Curt Dixon got the win in his Key West debut on the mound and outfielder Cory Davidson stayed white hot.

Davidson's inside-the-park three run homer in the sixth inning broke open a 5-1 lead and gave Dixon more than enough breathing room. Davidson lined the 3-2 pitch to left field and the ball rolled all the way to the wall after the left fielder came up empty on a diving attempt. Davidson went 3-for-4 with four RBIs on the night and finished the tournament 8-for-10, making him Key West's unofficial tournament MVP.

Dixon, making his first start in about eight months, gave up only one run, seven hits and three walks while striking out five in six innings of work. Dixon mixed in an array of pitches and appeared to get more comfortable as the game went along. He finished with a pitch count of 97.

The Ramblers (6-0) got on the board first after Tim Carty's first-inning double drove in Tyler Sincock, who doubled to lead off the game. Chris Briggs added a two-out RBI single two batters later. Davidson and Dan Spain also added RBI singles of their own to cap the scoring.

Farley got its only run in the second inning when Bryan Gisel homered to left. Brian Miller, who went 2-for-4, was the only Farley player to tally multiple hits.

Key West returns to Prairie League play on Sunday when it hosts Peosta at Table Mound Field. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.

Ramblers hold off Cascade, advance to EIHL championship

After racing out to a 10-0 lead, the Ramblers appeared to be on their way to an easy victory over Cascade on Friday night. But Key West (5-0) could not breath easy until Cascade's Marty Sutherland grounded to third to end the game in the bottom of the seventh with runners at first and second. The Ramblers held on for a 10-9 victory in the EIHL Tournament semifinal match up.

Key West exploded for nine runs in the third inning as it sent 12 batters to the plate in the frame. The Ramblers chased starting pitcher Pat Weber from the game with two outs in the inning. The Ramblers tagged Weber for four straight singles to start the inning. He was lifted after shortstop Dan Spain singled for the second time in the inning, driving in a run.

Right fielder Cory Davidson was a perfect 4-for-4 for Key West. Davidson tripled, scored a run, knocked in a run and stole a base. Spain went 3-for-4 with three runs and three stolen bases, while Michael Jimenez cracked two hits in three at-bats. Jimenez's three-run double proved to be the biggest blow in the nine-run third inning.

But Cascade responded with a huge seven-run fourth inning to get back in the game. The Reds pounded out five hits and were aided by an error in the inning. Key West starter Sean O'Connor finally got out of the inning with a strikeout of Cal Rahe. O'Connor gave up seven runs (three earned) in four innings and upped his record to 2-0.

Spain relieved O'Connor in the fifth and gutted out the final three innings to record the save. After hitting a batter and giving up a single to start the seventh, Spain struck out the next two batters and coaxed Sutherland into a game-ending fielders choice.

The win puts the Ramblers in Saturday's championship game at 7:30 p.m. versus Farley, which defeated Dubuque 4-3 in the late game on Friday. Key West will give the ball to Curt Dixon, who will make his first ever start as a Rambler.

Ramblers continue offensive surge in win over Monticello

The Key West Ramblers cranked out 14 hits on the way to an 11-3 road victory over Monticello on Thursday. Four different Ramblers collected three hits each in the blowout EIHL win.

Chris Briggs, Cory Davidson, Tyler Sincock and Cam Stewart all went 3-for-5 as the Ramblers improved to 4-0 on the season. Key West put up three runs in the second inning, four in the third, two in the fourth and one each in the sixth and seventh. Briggs added four runs scored and two stolen bases to his stat line.

Ben Cottrell made his season debut on the mound, going six strong innings. Cottrell retired the first nine batters of the game and did not allow a hit until a sixth inning single by Nick Miller with one out. Cottrell gave up three runs (two earned) in six innings. He struck out eight and walked four. Ethan Carlson pitched three scoreless innings to get the save.

Key West now turns its attention to the semifinals of the EIHL Tournament. The Ramblers take on Cascade at 7 p.m. on Friday when Sean O'Connor will make his second start with Key West. The winner advances to the championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The loser will play in the consolation game at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

2011 Team Statistics

To view complete Key West team and individual hitting and pitching statistics, click HERE.