Submitted photo – The McKinleyville All-Stars

By Ray Hamill — It was a big week for several of the local Little League All-Star teams as their season came to an end, as well as for one Humboldt Crabs player who rose to the occasion.

The McKinleyville 12-year-old All-Stars saw their summer end in a 14-13 loss to West Redding in the championship game of the Section tournament in Chico on Wednesday night.

But the young Mack players showed a lot of resiliency to battle back to the championship game with three straight elimination game wins.

That impressive run included a thrilling 15-12 win over the same West Redding team in extra innings the previous night to keep their championship hopes alive.

There are not too many easy games when you get to this stage of the season and the young McKinleyville players battled all the way to the final out in all of their games this week.

More than anything, it was an exciting season for the players and their fans.

Three of the team’s last six games were decided by just one run, two of which they won, including a closely-contested District final.

Incredibly, they scored eight runs in the top of the sixth inning of Wednesday’s loss to take a slender one-run lead.

But they were unable to hold on in the bottom half of the inning.

However, their resilience and never-say-die attitude earns them this week’s Humboldt Sports Team of the week honors.

Our athlete of the week, meanwhile, goes to a Humboldt Crabs player who rose to the occasion this week.

Facing their most important series of the summer, the Crabs welcomed the Healdsburg Prune Packers to the Arcata Ball Park this weekend for three games that will have huge implications in the race for this summer’s Pacific Empire League championship series.

Unfortunately for the Crabs, they fell just short in Friday night’s series opener, losing 3-2 in a game that went right down to the wire.

But one Crabs player did his best to keep the team in contention with his most impressive performance of the summer.

Tyler Howard stepped up big for the home team and finished with four of the Crabs’ eight hits, including a huge solo home run.

And that gets him the nod for this week’s athlete of the week award.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK 

Tyler Howard

Humboldt Crabs

Since joining the team in mid June, Howard has been one of the Crab’s most consistent and reliable bats with multiple hits in seven of his 20 games.

On Friday night, in one of the team’s most important games of the season, the hard-hitting Howard finished 4-for-5 with the home run and two doubles.

It was his third home run of the summer, and his second and third doubles of the campaign.

For more on Howard’s big night, see Crabs fall short in key series opener against league leaders …

Submitted photo

TEAM OF THE WEEK

McKinleyville 12-year-old All-Stars

The season may be over, but the young McKinleyville players left their mark, finishing second in the Section tournament.

More than anything, it was a very exciting summer for the players and their fans, as the local All-Stars rallied their way to victory on multiple occasions and showed a lot of determination.

Manager Kirby Hawkes and his staff deserve a lot of credit for the roles they played as well and for helping to establish an unwavering belief within the roster.

For more on their big week, see Resilient Mack All-Stars enjoy exciting summer despite tourney loss …