Humboldt Crabs Baseball

By Ray Hamill — With the summer baseball season winding down, two teams stood out this past week.

First of all, the McKinleyville 12-year-old Little League All-Stars capped another very impressive summer for the District 26 teams by qualifying for the NorCal state tournament in Madera.

And while they may have fallen short in their bid for a state title and a trip to the West Regional tournament, it was nonetheless another hugely successful season for the young all-stars.

And that makes them one of our teams of the week.

Joining them this week are the Humboldt Crabs.

The longtime summer collegiate baseball team is enjoying another big summer and find themselves in contention for a spot in the inaugural Pacific Empire League Championship Series, which takes place next week.

Going into Saturday night, the Crabs are in need of some help from the Solano Mudcats, who are playing the Lincoln Potters this weekend.

The Crabs need the Mudcats to win two straight games against the Lincoln Potters if they are to qualify.

Regardless of whether they do or not, however, it has been an impressive league campaign for the Crabs.

The coaches and players showed a lot of character after beginning league play with seven straight losses, and they have won 14 of their last 19 PEL games to put themselves back in contention.

And that earns them one of our team of the week awards.

Submitted photo

TEAMS OF THE WEEK 

McKinleyville 12-Year-Old All-Stars

The most successful local Little League organization in recent years is showing no signs of slowing down.

McKinleyville won three of the four District 26 championships and two of those three teams — the 12-year-olds and juniors — went on to also claim a Section 2 crown.

Under the guidance of head coach Jaime Arredondo and his assistants, the Mack 12-year-olds did themselves and their community proud this summer and they should have a bright future ahead of them.

For more on their big week, see McKinleyville All-Stars enjoy ‘huge accomplishment’ in memorable summer run …

Humboldt Crabs

The Crabs didn’t look like they had much hope of competing for the inaugural Pacific Empire League championship back in late June.

The longtime local summer club dropped its first seven games in the newly-formed league, including six road losses to open the campaign.

However, a thrilling Saturday night walk-off victory over the Lincoln Potters at the Arcata Ball Park on June 29 kickstarted an impressive rally and the Crabs would go on to win five of the next six league series to put themselves right back in contention.

Even if they should fall short in their bid for a spot in next week’s league championship series, head coach Robin Guiver, his assistants and the players deserve a lot of credit for how they responded to the early setback.