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

The Martin Luther King Cougars will take on the West Philadelphia Speedboys at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. Martin Luther King has given up an average of 8.4 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Martin Luther King is headed into the matchup having just suffered their biggest loss since April 16, 2024 on Wednesday. They lost 21-3 to Boys' Latin Charter. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Cougars' biggest loss of the season was also their lowest-scoring.

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.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for West Philadelphia, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. They blew past Roxborough 19-4 on Wednesday. Considering the Speedboys have won seven games by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

West Philadelphia is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.0 runs over those games. Having lost for the first time this season, Martin Luther King fell to 6-1-1.

Martin Luther King took their win against West Philadelphia in their previous matchup back in April of 2021 by a conclusive 16-1 score. Will the Cougars repeat their success, or do the Speedboys have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.