File photo/Humboldt Crabs Baseball

The Humboldt Crabs dropped two of three games at the Arcata Ball Park over the weekend, falling to the West Coast Kings on Friday night before splitting a two-game series against the Healdsburg Prune Packers on Saturday and Sunday.

The Kings prevailed 12-8, but the Crabs would bounce back with a 2-1 win over the league-leading Packers the following night before closing out the weekend with a 9-1 loss on Sunday afternoon.

The Crabs are now 31-12 overall and 15-11 in the Pacific Empire League standings.

They are fourth in the standings going into the final week of league play, trailing Healdsburg (20-5), the Lincoln Potters (16-8) and the Medford Rogues (11-8).

The red-hot Potters have won eight straight games to put them in the driver’s seat to face Healdsburg in this summer PEL championship series.

The Crabs had 13 hits in Friday’s loss, led by Jason Arriola, who finished 3-for-5 with an RBI.

Alex Harrington, Jaden Shabry and Adam Enyart each added two hits including doubles by Harrington and Enyart.

The Kings led 7-0- going into the bottom of the third, but in a back-and-forth game the Crabs battled hard throughout, tying the game at 8-8 in the seventh, before the visitors added four late runs for the win.

Tyler Howard hit a decisive home run in the third inning of Saturday night’s game in what was a competitive and low scoring showdown.

Howard and Harrington each finished with two hits to lead a six-hit team performance for the home team.

Bryson Schelp pitched six strong innings for the win, giving up just one earned run on five hits and no walks and striking out eight.

Jack Novak threw three scoreless and hitless innings in relief to help see the Crabs over the finish line.

The Prune Packers, however, responded on Sunday with their fourth win in five games against the Crabs this summer.

They opened up a three-run lead in the top of the second and would continue to add to their tally with runs in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

Howard continued to impress in the loss, finishing 2-for-4 to lead a five-hit team performance, while Harrington, Kawana Soares and Chyran Humphries each had a double.

Myles Standish got the start on the mound and threw four innings the loss, giving up three earned runs on four hits and four walks and striking out one.

The Crabs will return to action on Tuesday night when the Bercovich Honors travel to Arcata to open a two-game series, before hosting the Medford Rogues in a three-game stand this weekend.