by Erik Fraser/Humboldt Crabs

ARCATA (Aug. 3, 2014) — The “Going Out With a Bang” slogan the Crabs used in the last week of the 2014 season was a literal reference to Saturday night’s postgame fireworks show, but it could also be a metaphor for how they finished the season on the field.

Over the final week of the 70th season of Crabs Baseball, the hometown Crustaceans put on quite the pyrotechnics display, outscoring their opponents 33-3 over the five games to finish 34-15 in Manager Tyson Fisher’s first season at the helm.

“We couldn’t have ended it any better,” said Fisher. “We finished out the weekend the way that we wanted to, getting the brooms out. That last week we were playing really good baseball….Pitchers were outstanding again, and our hitters got some big time hits in some big time spots. It was a good way to go out.”

One of the stars in the final week was leadoff hitter Beau Bozett. As leadoff hitters are supposed to be, Bozett was the spark plug for the offense all week long. He hit .545 (12-for-22) over the last five games, with three doubles, a triple, and his first home run of the year in the 49th and final game.

Having already scored the initial run of the game on a Trent Goodrich single in the first, Bozett came to the plate with two on and two out in the second. He clubbed a ball to left-center that sailed over the 343 sign and onto the newly-repaved freeway for a three-run shot to send the Crabs on their way to a 7-0 season-ending victory.

The way the pitchers were throwing, Bozett’s offense alone might have been enough. Stingy is probably not a strong enough adjective to describe the performances by every Crab who took the mound over the final week.

On Tuesday against the Valley Bears — a last-minute substitution after the Santa Rosa Rose Buds were forced to cancel — Dillon Houser and Michael Westra combined for a shutout in a 9-0 Crabs win. The next day, Zach Settles and Adam Wozniak were nearly as good in a 9-1 victory.

Friday was, as it has been all season, the Andrew Nelson Show. He finished off his perfect season by shutting down the Novato Knicks, allowing one run on three hits over seven innings. Fellow Humboldt native Zach Stone threw two innings of no-hit relief to make Morgan McCasland’s three-run homer stand up in a 3-1 win.

On Saturday, the combo of Justin Hatch, Mack Meyer and JD Doran again held the Knicks to a single run as the Crabs cruised to a 5-1 win. Then in Sunday’s finale, Jake Shull threw five dominant innings of one-hit ball before yielding to Casey Rodriguez and Johnny Melero to close out the season in style.

“I had a lot of fun with this group,” said Fisher. “We had some ups and downs, but I haven’t been on a team before where there’s not been ups and downs. That’s how it always is. I learned a few things, and hopefully next year’s going to be bigger and better.”

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