LaMere walk-off single lifts Ramblers over Balltown

After dropping a one-run decision to Farley on Monday, Key West (28-9, 10-3 Prairie League) rebounded with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Balltown in Peosta on Wednesday night. Brett LaMere served as the hero, driving home the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth to complete a rally from two runs down.

Balltown, behind starting pitcher Steve McDonough, led 3-0 after five innings. The Ramblers finally got on the board with Luis Reyes' RBI ground out in the bottom of the sixth. Key West later took advantage of two key Balltown errors and a free pass to win on LaMere's walk-off in the ninth.

The clutch two-out hit made a winner of Kenny Capesius, who worked three innings in relief of starter Jake Schaeffer. Capesius moved to 8-0 this season by limiting Balltown to a run on three hits while working the seventh, eighth and ninth frames. Schaeffer allowed three unearned runs in six innings before giving way to Capesius.

Both Anthony Ruden and Chris Briggs went 2-for-5 to lead the Rambler attack. LaMere also drove in a run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly.

Two nights earlier Farley got on top of Key West ace Jordan Hohensee (8-3) with five first-inning runs on five hits. Hohensee settled in, but the Ramblers played catch up the rest of the way and ultimately fell 8-7.

Key West made it a tight contest with a four-run third inning that included a two-run double from Andrew Redman and a two-run homer from Chris Briggs, who tied Redman for the team lead with four long balls on the season.

Farley pushed its lead back up to 8-4 with a run each in the fourth and sixth innings of a seven-inning affair. Key West responded with three tallies in the bottom of the sixth, one coming on a Ruden RBI triple to get back in it. In an attempt at a seventh-inning rally, the Ramblers went down 1-2-3.

Ramblers with multiple hits included Ruden (3-for-4), Ben Oglesby (2-for-2), LaMere (2-for-3) and Briggs (2-for-4).

Key West returned to play Thursday (July 31) with a doubleheader at Cascade. The action got started at 6:30 p.m.

Sunday sweep

The Ramblers outscored Holy Cross and Epworth by a combined tally of 17-1 in a pair of seven-inning Prairie League victories on Sunday afternoon. Key West (27-8, 9-2 Prairie League) topped Holy Cross 10-0 in game 1 before taking a 7-1 win over Epworth in game 2.

The Ramblers nearly got back-to-back shutouts from starting pitchers Kenny Capesius and Austin Bradley. Capesius fired a four-hit shutout in game 1 to remain unbeaten at 7-0. He holds a 1.43 ERA in 56.2 innings. Meanwhile, Bradley had a shutout going in the seventh until JJ Connolly's RBI single with two outs.

A strong offensive day began with Key West racking up three first-inning runs in game 1. Andrew Redman got it started with a two-run single on a day in which he reached base in six of his eight plate appearances. Key West got four more runs in the third and one apiece in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings. Anthony Ruden led the attack from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.

Chris Briggs got the Ramblers on the board in game 2 with a first-inning RBI single. He added another RBI base hit in the third as part of a 2-for-3 game. Ruden went 2-for-2 with three runs, two walks and two stolen bases. Dan Spain went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, one run and one steal. Jake Schaeffer also collected a pair of hits in a 2-for-4 effort versus Epworth.

Capesius ended up with two strikeouts compared to no walks in game 1. Bradley worked around eight bases on balls and struck out eight. Opposing hitters went a combined 7-for-49 (.143) on the day, dropping the opponent batting average to .182 on the year. The Ramblers have outscored their foes 230-71 over 35 games.

Redman scored three runs on the day to give him 39 for the season, tying the team single-season record set by Spain in 2011.

Key West is scheduled to be in action in each of the next four days. The Ramblers are set to play at Farley at 7 p.m. on  Monday.

Key West holds off Dyersville

One-run games have been rare this season for Key West, but on Monday the Ramblers got a ninth-inning tally to break a 5-5 tie at Dyersville and improve to 4-1 in games decided by a single run. With the 6-5 win, Key West (25-8) continued its dominant run in EIHL action, moving to 10-1 in league play.

Jordan Hohensee got the win on the mound to bump his record to 8-2. Aaron Becker took the loss for Dyersville.

At the plate, Dan Spain (2-for-5) and Luis Reyes (2-for-4) both collected two hits apiece for Key West. Spain cracked a pair of doubles. Anthony Ruden cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fourth. Spain ended up scoring the winning run in the ninth on a wild pitch after leading off with one of his two doubles.

Key West moved ahead 5-3 with two runs in the top of the eighth before Dyersville answered with two of its own in the bottom half. Ahead 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Ramblers turned a double play to end the game.

Key West is off until Sunday when it will host a doubleheader, beginning with Holy Cross at 12 p.m. and ending with Epworth at 2 p.m.

Saeugling homer pushes Dubuque past Ramblers

Aaron Saeugling's two-run homer in the top of the eighth broke a 1-1 tie and lifted Dubuque to a 3-1 win over Key West in the first round of the Cascade Tournament on Saturday night. Seeking their first-ever Cascade title, the Ramblers (24-8) were eliminated by a Blues team they had defeated in the first round of the Farley and Worthington tournaments this season.

Facing Dubuque hurler Mark Hennessey, Key West mustered just a single run when Chris Briggs doubled in Andrew Redman in the bottom of the fourth to knot the score. Hennessey and the Ramblers' Dan Spain then traded zeroes until Saeugling's game-winning blast.

Spain struggled with his control, issuing nine walks (three in the first inning). He worked out of nearly every jam while limiting Dubuque to five hits over an eight-inning complete game. He got a key strikeout in the first inning after walking the bases loaded to keep the Blues off the scoreboard. He was then one out away from maintaining a 1-1 tie in the eighth before Saeugling took him deep.

The Ramblers managed four hits off of Hennessey. They also missed out on a prime scoring chance in the first inning when Spain doubled and Andrew Redman was hit by a pitch with one out. Hennessey got Briggs and Tim Carty to fly out to end the frame.

Key West and Dubuque have already met six times this season. The Ramblers are 4-2 in those contests.

The Ramblers will return to action on Monday when they play at Dyersville at 7 p.m. Key West is 9-1 in EIHL play.

Ramblers rally back from four-run deficit for road win

Down 4-0 after four innings of play at Worthington on Thursday, Key West chipped away until taking the lead for good on Ben Oglesby's RBI single in the eighth on the way to a 7-4 triumph. The late offense helped make a winner of starting pitcher Kenny Capesius, who improved to 6-0 this season. As a team, the Ramblers are 24-7 overall and 9-1 in EIHL action.

Three first-inning unearned runs allowed host Worthington to jump on top early. Key West got back into it by getting a run each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The Ramblers then got back-to-back two out RBI singles from Luis Reyes and Oglesby for the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the eighth off of Worthington starter Travis Rahe.

First baseman Chris Briggs put an exclamation point on the victory by crushing his third home run of the season, a two-run blast that easily cleared the right field wall in the top of the ninth.

Capesius worked the first eight innings for Key West. He allowed four runs (one earned) on nine hits and no walks. He struck out five in the process of remaining unbeaten. The Ramblers then turned to Austin Bradley in the ninth. Bradley worked a 1-2-3 frame to collect his team-leading third save.

Anthony Ruden (3-for-5) and Andrew Redman (2-for-4) both notched two or more hits for the Ramblers. Redman also stole two bases and scored a run in the sixth. Ruden scored a run, drove one in and had one steal from the leadoff spot in the lineup.

Rahe ended up being charged with four earned runs over nine innings. He also went 3-for-4 at the plate. He was robbed of a possible home run in his last at bat when Key West left fielder Tony Ebel made a difficult catch up against the wall in the bottom of the eighth.

The Ramblers will be back in action on Saturday for a first-round tournament game in Cascade. Key West takes on Dubuque at 7:30 p.m.

Ramblers fall at Farley despite stellar outing from Hohensee

EIHL all-star game starter Jordan Hohensee did not allow a single hit until the sixth inning, but host Farley made a single unearned run stand up in a 1-0 pitcher's duel. Farley's Jared McIntosh flashed dominant stuff and wiggled out of a couple jams to keep the Ramblers in check. Key West fell to 23-7 overall and 7-2 in Prairie League action.

The game's lone run came home when Farley's Pat Grau hit a sharp grounder toward the first base line that eluded Chris Briggs and allowed Craig Kerper to score from second in the bottom of the sixth. That play came on the heels of back-to-back singles from Craig Kerper and Brian Miller - the first two Farley hits of the night off of Hohensee.

Hohensee dropped to 7-2 despite allowing only two hits and walking none in a six-inning complete game. The Rambler ace needed only 56 pitches on the night. Three of his innings were of the 1-2-3 variety.

Key West left at least one runner in scoring position in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Dan Spain nearly knocked in a pair of runs in the third when he hit a hot shot towards third with runners at second and third. Farley's Adam Seabrooke made a nifty stab and threw Spain out at first to end the inning.

McIntosh ended up with a five-hit shutout. He struck out nine Ramblers, including three in the fourth.

Key West will return to action on Thursday with an EIHL game at Worthington. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

Ruden, defense pave way for 2-1 win over Dubuque

Anthony Ruden delivered big pitches with men on base, Ben Oglesby gunned down a late run at the plate and the Ramblers eked out a 2-1 EIHL win over Dubuque on Tuesday night in Peosta. The victory was the fifth in a row and 16th in the last 18 games for Key West (23-6), which is now 8-1 in EIHL action.

Working with a 2-0 lead, Ruden somehow navigated the sixth inning without allowing a single run despite the first three hitters all reaching base. The key play of the game came when Oglesby, playing center field, fielded a single off the bat of Aaron Wulfekuhle and nailed a runner at the plate for the first out. Ruden then got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat.

More drama came in the seventh when Austin Bradley relieved Ruden. Andy Danna's sacrifice fly for the second out put the Blues on the board. Key West then sealed the win when catcher Brett LaMere threw out Aaron Saeugling, who attempted to steal second.

The Ramblers got their runs on a Jake Schaeffer RBI single in the bottom of the second and a key two-out RBI base hit by Chris Briggs in the bottom of the third. Briggs' hit scored Andrew Redman, who had doubled to deep left to begin a two-out spurt.

Ruden (4-2) scattered five hits, three walks and two hit batters over his six innings of scoreless work. Bradley then came on to earn his second save of the season.

Wulfekuhle went 2-for-3 for Dubuque and was the only player on either side with multiple hits on the night. Alex Steines took the loss on the mound for the Blues.

The Ramblers have now won each of the last four meetings with Dubuque, including two tournament matchups.

Up Next: Key West will play at Farley at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (July 16) in a Prairie League contest.