The Humboldt Crabs lost in Healdsburg for the second straight night on Friday to see their hopes of a Pacific Empire League championship end.

The host Prune Packers and top seeds for this week’s league championship series prevailed 9-4.

The Crabs had taken an exciting series opener at the Arcata Ball Park on Tuesday night by a score of 10-8, but the Packers would tie the series with a 10-2 win in Healdsburg on Thursday night.

The league championship is the second straight for the Prune Packers, who also won last year’s inaugural PEL.

They wasted little time taking control of Friday night’s game, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning and stretching their lead to six after three.

The Crabs would grow into the game and began to chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit in half after plating a pair of runs in the top of the sixth.

But the home team would answer with two runs of their own in the bottom half of that inning and never really looked in danger of losing after that.

Tate Medicoff and Kawana Soares each had three hits for the Crabs, while Tyler Howard added two.

Jonah Fragus got the start on the hill for the visitors and took the loss, pitching just one inning and allowing five earned runs on five hits.

Healdsburg took seven of nine games against the Crabs this summer, handing them all but three of their losses for the season.

With Friday’s loss, the Crabs dropped to 38-10

The Crabs will return to the North Coast to close out the season with two more games this weekend.

They will host Cal State Peloteros at the Arcata Ball Park on Saturday night (6:30 p.m.) and Sunday afternoon (12:30 p.m.).