Baseball Game Preview: West Philadelphia Speedboys vs. Martin Luther King Cougars

The West Philadelphia Speedboys are taking a road trip to square off against the Martin Luther King Cougars at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. Martin Luther King took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on West Philadelphia, who comes in off a win.

West Philadelphia took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Roxborough as they made off with a 19-4 win. The result was nothing new for the Speedboys, who have now won seven contests by seven runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, Martin Luther King suffered their biggest loss since April 16, 2024 on Wednesday. They lost 21-3 to Boys' Latin Charter. The Cougars have struggled against the Warriors recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost meeting.

Martin Luther King saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Avery Jackson, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double. Ishmail Crawford-Mathis was another, getting on base in both of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

West Philadelphia pushed their record up to 8-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.3 runs over those games. As for Martin Luther King, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 6-1-1.

West Philadelphia might still be hurting after the 16-1 loss they got from Martin Luther King in their previous matchup back in April of 2021. Can the Speedboys avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.