The Martin Luther King Cougars will square off against the West Philadelphia Speedboys at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Martin Luther King is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Tacony Academy Charter with a sharp 16-6 victory. 16 seems to be a good number for the Cougars as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Jordan Thompson made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs and two RBI.
Messiah Stokes
| 05/27/25 vs Tacony Academy Charter | 3 |
| 05/19/25 vs Sankofa Freedom Academy | 2 |
| 05/02/25 vs West Philadelphia | 1 |
| 04/30/25 vs Boys' Latin Charter | 0 |
| 04/23/25 vs Tacony Academy Charter | 2 |
| + 4 more games |
In other batting news, Messiah Stokes and Matthew Scott did most of the damage at the plate: Stokes got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs, while Scott got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base. That's the most runs Stokes has posted since back in March. Eli Mobley was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Martin Luther King always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .615. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .526 or higher in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, West Philadelphia hadn't done well against Bodine recently (they were 0-5 in their previous five matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Speedboys were the clear victors by a 19-13 margin over the Ambassadors. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Speedboys.
Zion Shelby was excellent, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with three runs.
West Philadelphia pushed their record up to 10-4 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.2 runs over those games. As for Martin Luther King, their victory bumped their record up to 9-1-1.
Thursday's matchup will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Martin Luther King hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .351. However, it's not like West Philadelphia struggles in that department as they've averaged .404. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Martin Luther King was able to grind out a solid win over West Philadelphia in their previous matchup on May 2nd, winning 11-7. Will the Cougars repeat their success, or do the Speedboys have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
