• Photo by Matt Filar
• Jett Ruby scores on the Fourth of July to give Crabs lead.

Momentum can be fickle, especially in baseball. Tuesday night, they welcomed the Solano Mudcats to town for a three-game set, but the magic they had experienced the past week wasn’t there and, after losing the opener 10-0, the Crabs and their faithful might have thought, “It was fun while it lasted.” But this team and this community are built different. Baseball players need to have a short memory to be able to turn the page, and Wednesday night the Crabs would storm back and do just that.

Billy Ham and Troy Harding would set the pace for the Crabbies offensively with two RBIs each. The real story would be the Crabs bullpen, which has been a strength all summer. University of California Davis product Max Hippenstell, fresh off a great performance in Sunday’s extra-inning win, would take the mound again in absolute dominant fashion. He’d give up one hit over three scoreless innings, while striking out seven to lock up his second win in four days. “Everything was working. My fastball was coming out of my hand well, and my change up was absolutely filthy,” he said. Mad Max does not lack confidence — exactly what you want and need in a reliever. The Crabs would take game two with a score of 7-3, with a pivotal series-deciding game looming over the biggest home game of the year.

• Photo by Matt Filar
• The Crabs take to the plaza.

The Fourth of July in Arcata starts with the jubilee on the plaza, which never disappoints. The Crabs took to the square pregame to mingle with the locals and show appreciation to the community that shows them so much support. They signed autographs, shook hands, took pictures; some even took a turn getting soaked in the dunk tank. Then it was time to refocus on the task at hand.

• Photo by Matt Filar
• Caleb Nieman takes his turn getting dunked on the Fourth of July.

In front of a raucous crowd of red, white and blue, and with six shutout innings from Caleb Ruiz, the Crabs would cruise to a 5-1 victory to not only win the day, but the series. Ty Kennedy would lead the offense with three hits and two RBIs. 

The Crabs would have just enough time to shower, eat a hot dog and pack their bags before hitting the road to face the Medford Rogues and a heat wave the next morning. With temperatures on the field reaching 107 degrees, the Crabs would drop game one of the series 7-4. Saturday night, they’d roar back, showing the same resilience that is starting to define this team. After so many games in so many days, both teams would be pitching by committee. The Medford Rogues would run out seven different pitchers and neither team had anyone throw more than three innings. Hippenstell would continue his run of dominance with three more scoreless innings and four more strike-outs, while Blake Ignaciak would add three scoreless frames of his own to pick up the win. The Crabs were paced offensively all weekend by Jett Ruby. The lead-off man had four hits and three RBIs. Collin Callahan added two hits and three RBIs, while Ham drove in two runs and reached base five times. The Crabs would win this battle of attrition 9-7, and roll into Sundays contest with a chance to with their third series in a row.

• Photo by Matt Filar
• The Crabs celebrate a big series win.

On get-away day it would be all Crabs. The good guys came out swinging and put things out of reach early. Ruby, Callahan and Ham would all have multiple hits. Jehee Lee added two hits and three RBIs, and Keoni Coloma added his first homerun of the summer and five RBIs.  Southpaw Nolan Long gave up one run over five innings to pick up his fourth win of the summer. 

The Crabs were back home this week starting Tuesday, July 9, against the Alameda Anchors (no score was available as of press time). They’ll also host a weekend series against the West Coast Kings.  

Heckle of the Week

To the Solano Mudcat pitcher:“You’re getting lit up!!! At least it’s the Fourth of July…. You’re festive!”

And later to the same pitcher: “Taco Bell is hiring!”

Brandon Dixon (he/him) is is a former All American who played college baseball for Orange Coast College, Point Loma Nazarene and the Peninsula Oilers. Husband and father to two little girls, he’s also the host of The Brando Show podcast.