ARCATA (July 5) — The Crabs bucked holiday tradition, setting off a few fireworks on the Third of July, but not saving any for the Fourth, as they took the first two games against the Solano Mudcats the week before quietly falling 2-1 in the series finale.
The Crabs took a 1-0 lead early on the Fourth, in front of a packed house of 1,469 fans on a warm, sunny, very un-Humboldt type of day. But they missed a chance to make it 2-0 as Peter Miller was gunned down at home one batter before Tyler Shannon drove in Zack McCoy.
But that's all the Crabs would get against the Mucats' starter Anthony Pezzola and closer Andy Amaro. Solano would tie it up in the sixth and take a narrow 2-1 lead in the eighth, but the margin proved enough to win. Brian Bynum took a rough loss, giving up only the two runs in 7 1/3 innings.
The Crabs had taken both ends of a Wednesday doubleheader by identical 4-0 scores. In the opener, the Mudcats couldn't solve the 6-foot-7 Toby Woods, as he held them hitless through five innings, striking out seven and walking three. The Mudcats finally registered a knock against infielder-turned-reliever Shannon in the sixth, but by then the Crabs were up 3-0, thanks to Trent Goodrich and McCoy, who each picked up an RBI and a run in the second.
The Crabs added one more run in the sixth, and Jacob Coats took the mound to close out the short game, a solid 4-0 victory.
Perhaps inspired by his cohorts' success in the first game, Leland Tilley turned in a solid performance on the mound for the Crabs in the nightcap, scattering a scant four hits over six innings to lower his ERA to 0.82.
All the Crabs' offense against Chris Cordova came in the fifth, when they loaded the bases against him with nobody out, and then Cameron Olson launched the aforementioned fireworks, sending one over the fence for a grand slam.
