ARCATA (JUly 6, 2009) — The Crabs wasted no time announcing their presence in the WCL Tri-State.
Nick Melino's second-inning grand slam in Humboldt's league opener set the tone for a dominating weekend, as the Crabs took five of six from the Nevada Bighorns in their first WCL Tri-State series.
Dropping only Saturday afternoon's contest, the Crabs now sit atop the league standings, a game clear of the Folsom Pioneers (7-5). Check out the league website for complete standings, stats and schedules.
Melino's slam propelled Humboldt to a 10-6 win in Wednesday's opener. For an encore, the Crabs rallied with 7 runs in the sixth inning to win the nightcap 13-8.
On Friday night, John Austin threw six scoreless innings and Jeff Giacomini went 3-for-5 with a home run to lead the team to a 12-2 win.
After dropping the first game on Independence Day 2-1, the Crabs bounced back to win the evening game 3-2 in extra innings. Then on Sunday, Gene Escat threw six hitless innings as Humboldt closed out the series with an 8-2 win.
Melino was one of five Crabs who hit .400 or better for the series. Joining him were Logan Lotti, Brandon Hayes, Nick Leid and Brad Morgan, who led all Crabs with a .545 average (6-for-11). Austin, Escat and Chris DeBoo each threw six innings of shutout ball — DeBoo's over the course of two relief appearances.
The Crabs take a brief break from WCL Tri-State play Wednesday as they welcome the El Dorado Hills Vipers to Arcata for a doubleheader at 5:30 p.m., then resume league play Friday when the Redding Colt .45s (2-5 in league) come to town.
