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

The West Philadelphia Speedboys will head out on the road to face off against the Martin Luther King Cougars at 3:15 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.

West Philadelphia made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Franklin Learning Center, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Speedboys were the clear victors by an 18-11 margin over the Bobcats on Friday. The Speedboys might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by seven runs or more this season.

Meanwhile, Martin Luther King strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They put the hurt on Prep Charter with a sharp 18-2 victory.

Avery Jackson made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. Jackson was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged two or more in each of the last three games he's played dating back to last season.

In other batting news, Martin Luther King let Justin Reynolds and Messiah Stokes run wild. Reynolds scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Stokes scored a run while going 4-for-5. Those four hits gave Stokes a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ishmail Crawford-Mathis, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

Martin Luther King pushed their record up to 3-0 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average this season. As for West Philadelphia, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-1.

West Philadelphia suffered a grim 16-1 defeat to Martin Luther King in their previous meeting back in April of 2021. Can the Speedboys avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.