Baseball

Jul 27, 2023

The end result was never in doubt as the Humboldt Crabs cruised to an 8-4 victory over Seals Baseball on Tuesday night. The victory was Humboldt’s 36th win of the season, tying their win total from last season with four games still remaining on the schedule.

The series opening victory over the Seals was Humboldt’s third win against the team this season. The Crabs faced the squad formerly known as the San Francisco Seals for a two-game series back in June, beating them both times by a score of 5-2. Tuesday’s win was even more emphatic than those early season victories.

The Crabs offense got things going in the first inning, as Peyton Miller ripped off a single in the second at-bat of the game for Humboldt. He then advanced to second on a balk, and Wyatt Reginato added another single to put Miller 90 feet from home plate. Billy Ham hit a fly ball into left field, and Miller tagged up for the game’s first run on what was ultimately ruled an error. The Crabs’ consistent flow of offensive opportunities would be the hallmark of Humboldt’s win as they had two hits in each of the first four innings.

On the mound, Eureka native Caleb Ruiz hit his stride in the third after getting out of two early jams. He retired the side and continued his shutout of the Seals’ offense.

The big offensive breakthrough finally came through in the bottom of the fourth. With one out and a runner on third, Jackson Giacone hit a double to easily score Kawana Soares. The following at-bat, lead-off man Mike McKernan hit a second consecutive double to score Giacone. After Miller hit a single that advanced McKernan to third, he was picked off at first base. But the pick-off created room for McKernan to score from third and extend Humboldt’s lead to 4-0 to end the inning. The Crabs walked in a run in the fifth and Giacone hit an RBI single in the seventh to extend that lead to 6-0.

Ruiz continued his remarkably efficient outing on the mound. He essentially retired the side in five of his seven innings of work, ending those innings after only facing three batters. But the pitching success didn’t quite translate into the bullpen. Trevor Allen entered the game for Ruiz in the eighth, and the power pitcher from UC Davis endured a rare bad outing. After a walk and a strikeout opened the inning, a single by Nigel Derego scored the Seals’ first run of the game.

Allen continued to be plagued by inconsistency. Walking two more batters, while also logging another strikeout between those at-bats, to load the bases. Carlos Drain delivered a bases-clearing double to center field, keeping the Seals’ hopes alive. Heading into the bottom of the eighth, the score was 6-4.

But the Seals couldn’t maintain their composure after making the game competitive. Two hit-by-pitches and a walk promptly loaded the bases with no outs. Even though Soares then grounded into a double play, the Crabs still added a run on the play. Luke Reece then scored on a wild pitch during the following at-bat to give Humboldt a comfortable 8-4 advantage.

Humboldt entrusted to the slugger Ham to take over as pitcher and close out the win in the ninth. The dynamic player from Nevada delivered, ended the game with two pop-outs and a strikeout to secure the gritty victory for the Crabs. Despite the team scoring eight runs, there were only four RBIs as the Crabs capitalized on five errors by the Seals. Furthermore, the Crabs had 12 hits but only three of those were for an RBI. The team scored five runs on either errors, base running, walks, or sacrifices.

It was the two Eureka natives that were the keys to victory for the Crabs. Offensively, Giacone finished the day 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs in addition to walk and a run scored. On the mound, Ruiz got the well-deserved win after he allowed only three hits and no runs in seven innings while also striking out eight batters.

The win improves the Crabs record to 36-7 on the year. The Crabs faced the Seals again on Wednesday evening in the final battle of the two-game series. Humboldt will close out the season with a weekend series against the Sacramento Yankees.

-Jake Matson can be reached at 707-441-0526.

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