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.

Three Ramblers picked for 2016 all-star game

A total of four team members, Coach John Knabel and three players, will represent the Ramblers at the annual Telegraph Herald Semi-Pro All-Star Game set to take place on Saturday, July 9 at Farley Park. This year's Key West all-stars are Andrew Redman and first timers Anthony Ruden and Nick Woltkamp.

Redman gets the nod as the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League's second baseman for the third-straight season. The Clarke University product entered this weekend hitting .386 with two home runs, five doubles and 13 runs driven in over 18 games. He's already scored 23 runs and sports an on-base percentage of .514 and slugging percentage of .614. On the mound, Redman is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Woltkamp will take the hill for the EIHL in his first appearance as an all-star. The workhorse has logged 44.2 innings so far this season after breaking the team single-season record by hurling 108.1 frames in 2015. In 2016, Woltkamp is 5-1 with a 2.42 ERA and 34 strikeouts. He's tossed three complete games and has held opposing hitters to a .257 batting average.

Ruden is listed as a utility player and will come off the bench for the EIHL. He's currently hitting .346 in 10 games. Over 13 innings as a pitcher, Ruden is 1-0 with 16 strikeouts and a 2.08 ERA. Last season Ruden batted .324 with 12 doubles and 10 stolen bases.

In addition, Nate Ramler, who's appeared in 10 games with Key West, will play third base for the Prairie League while representing Peosta. In only 37 at bats as a Rambler, Ramler has a team high four home runs. Trey Ertmer will play shortstop as an East Dubuque representative. Ertmer has played recently in three games with Key West.

2016 ALL-STAR ROSTERS

Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League
Coach: John Knabel
P: Nick Woltkamp, Key West
C: Ben Ogden, Worthington
1B: Joey Lehmann, Rickardsville
2B: Andrew Redman, Key West
3B: Connor Klosterman, Dyersville
SS: Austin Gehl, Cascade
LF: Nate McMullen, Cascade
CF: Craig Kerper, Farley
RF: Logan Kelleher, Dubuque Buds
DH: Kyle Huxford, Monticello

Reserves
Trent Bollman, Farley
Mike Canavello, Dubuque
Mike Leibfried, Rickardsville
Travis Rahe, Worthington
J.J. Reimer, Dubuque Buds
Anthony Ruden, Key West
Nate Thomas, Dyersville
Jacob Thompson, Monticello

Prairie League
Coach: Dan Melloy, Bernard
P: Dave Smith, Bellevue
C: David Janes, Zwingle
1B: Brett Featherston, Epworth
2B: Alex Dupont, Balltown
3B: Nate Ramler, Peosta
SS: Trey Ertmer, East Dubuque
LF: Cody Reimer, Peosta
CF: Austin Brown, Bernard
RF: Austin Clemens, Dubuque Packers
DH: Matt McCullough, Bernard

Reserves
Kyle Behnke, Balltown
Tommy Crohan, New Vienna
Dylan Kramer, Epworth
Drew Richard, Holy Cross
Jordan Ries, Bellevue
Cory Schulz, East Dubuque
Brandon Slaats, Zwingle
Alex Steines, Dubuque Packers
Kevin Tucker, Placid

Win streak halted at 18

The team record win streak of 18 finally came to an end on Wednesday night when Dubuque handed Key West a 6-3 defeat in the quarterfinals of the Worthington Tournament. The Ramblers (19-3) had won nine-consecutive tournament games having won Bellevue and Farley titles.

In Wednesday's loss, Brett LaMere belted a two-run homer that briefly gave Key West a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning. That advantage evaporated in the bottom half of the frame and Trey Ertmer was tagged with the loss. On the other side, Mark Hennessy fired a complete game and struck out 10. He surrendered five hits and two walks.

The Ramblers advanced to the quarterfinals at Worthington by drubbing Farley, 12-1, on Sunday. Key West played long ball in the blowout victory, getting a home run each from Nate Ramler, Ryan Siems and Dan Spain. Ramler has connected for a team high four home runs this season while Siems has three.

Even with Wednesday's loss, the Ramblers have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 157-61 on the season. They are batting .327 as a team while their foes are hitting just .196.

Key West is scheduled to return to action on Sunday when it will play a Prairie League contest at Epworth. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.

Ramler, Ramblers rock Rickardsville

The win streak grew to 15 on Tuesday night as Key West thrashed Rickardsville, 12-1, in EIHL action in Peosta. No. 5 hitter Nate Ramler tore apart Rickardsville with a 4-for-5 night that included an eighth-inning three-run homer that enacted the 10-run rule. The Ramblers (16-2, 6-1 EIHL) have not lost since a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Farley on May 15.

Ramler, who drove in five runs, played the part of the ringleader for a potent offensive attack that generated 13 hits on Tuesday. Other Ramblers with multiple hits were Ben Oglesby (2-for-3), Nick Woltkamp (2-for-3), Chris Briggs (2-for-5) and Dan Spain (2-for-5). Woltkamp doubled, tripled and knocked in a pair of runs. He's now hitting .391 on the year.

On the mound, Art Martinez pitched five solid frames (three hits, one run allowed) while earning his first win of the season. Austin Bradley received credit for the save by working scoreless sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Rickardsville's lone run came on a Mike Leibfried sac fly in the third inning.

Since the start of the 2012 season, Key West has won 14 of 17 meetings with Rickardsville. The Ramblers are set to return to action on Sunday with two games. First up is a Prairie League matchup in Peosta with New Vienna at 1 p.m. Key West then sets its sights on the Worthington Tournament where it will take on Farley at 7:30 p.m. in a semifinal contest.

Ramblers win third Farley title

For the third time in team history, the Ramblers are champions of the Farley Tournament. On Sunday Key West (15-2) extended its team record win streak to 14 by edging host Farley, 3-2, in the title game. As part of the 16-team bracket, the Ramblers defeated Dubuque, Bellevue and Cascade in making their way to the Father's Day championship tilt. Key West also won Farley titles in 2011 and 2014.

Andrew Redman earned a tournament MVP award for the second time this season by going 8-for-11 over the four games at Farley. He was also the MVP of the Bellevue Tournament, which the Ramblers won on June 4.

Trey Ertmer played the role of hero on Sunday. He recorded the last 11 outs in relief of Nick Woltkamp and then delivered a walk-off RBI single that scored Redman in the bottom of the ninth. It was Ertmer's first-ever game as a Rambler. Redman cracked two more hits a day after reaching base in all four plate appearances in the semifinal win over Cascade.

Redman was far from a lone wolf in Farley. Chris Briggs set the tone in the 13-2 blowout of Bellevue with a first-inning grand slam. Ryan Siems then surfaced with the key hit in the semifinals when he crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning versus Cascade. On the mount, Woltkamp was a horse, working all seven innings against Cascade on Saturday and then 5.1 frames in Sunday's championship.

Prior to this season, Key West's longest win streak was a 10-game unbeaten run in 2014. The team's 15-2 start equals the 2012 squad for best record after the first 17 games of a season. That Rambler edition finished the year at 40-12 overall.

2016 Farley Tournament results
First Round - W, 8-0 (5 inn.) vs. Dubuque
Quarterfinals - W, 13-2 (5 inn.) vs. Bellevue
Semifinals - W, 7-4 vs. Cascade
Championship - W, 3-2 vs. Farley

Siems, Key West rally for 10th-straight win

Late leads are not safe for opponents of the Ramblers. On Tuesday night Key West rallied from a 3-1 deficit to record its 10th-straight victory. The latest outing resulted in a 6-4 victory over Cascade in an Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League affair. The Ramblers moved to 11-2 overall (5-1 EIHL) while tying a team record set by the 2014 squad for most consecutive victories.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Key West put up a trio of runs after Ben Oglesby (single) and Anthony Razo (walk) set the table to begin the frame. Nate Ramler drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and a Cascade error and a base hit by Siems brought home two more. After Cascade tied the game in the top of the sixth, the Ramblers responded with two more runs to provide the winning margin.

Siems went 2-for-3 on Tuesday and is now a blistering 20-for-35 (.571) on the year. He helped back a pitching staff that used Austin Bradley (4.2 innings) and Kenny Capesius (2.1) to navigate the seven-inning contest. Although Capesius allowed his first earned run of the season, he improved to 4-0 this season and is now 16-2 in his career with the Ramblers.

Key West is now off until Sunday's first round action at the Farley Tournament. The Ramblers will take on Dubuque in Farley at 1:30 p.m. Key West won Farley titles in 2011 and 2014.