Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Merek Sears is one of several Crabs pitchers who have impressed for the team this summer.

By Ray Hamill — The Humboldt Crabs will welcome some old friends with a new name to the Arcata Ball Park this weekend.

Formerly known as the West Coast Kings, the newly named Bay Area Admirals will open a three-game series against the Crabs on Friday night at 7 p.m.

And after seeing his team take two lopsided games from the Alameda Anchors by a combined score of 28-1 in mid week, manager Robin Guiver is expecting a much bigger challenge from the Admirals.

“We played well,” Guiver said of the midweek series. “We kind of ran into a team that didn’t have a lot of pitching, but this weekend we’ve got a good team coming into town. It should be a fun weekend series.”

And the Crabs should be up for the challenge.

Since dropping three of five games on a June road trip, the Crabs have won 12 of their last 13 games, including this week’s 18-1 and 10-0 victories over the Anchors.

And they continue to win with some impressive pitching.

“Our pitching just continues to do a good job, the starters and the bullpen,” Guiver said.

Gabe Tanner and Nolan Long are both 5-0, while Merek Sears is 3-0 and Cameron Saso is 4-2.

Brady Chavez has been the team’s most impressive pitcher out of the bullpen with an ERA of 0.00 in 19 scoreless innings.

Chavez, a right-handed pitcher from Cabrillo College, has appeared in eight games, allowing just eight hits and two walks, and he has a team-best three saves in three save opportunities.

That pitching staff, however, will be challenged more this weekend.

The Crabs and Admirals open the weekend series with a single game on Friday night at 7 p.m.