The Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Royals will square off against the Hume-Fogg Blue Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.
Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Antioch as Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet made off with a 14-0 victory. While the Royals didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Graham McCoy looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out eight over four innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Brendan Dearing was a standout: he went 1-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. Thomas Dunaway was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .500 or higher in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Hume-Fogg suffered their closest defeat since March 26, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Fairview by a score of 5-3.
Calvin Crenshaw was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Hume-Fogg's loss dropped their record down to 4-9. As for Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet, their win bumped their record up to 7-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Hume-Fogg struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet came out on top in a nail-biter against Hume-Fogg in their previous matchup on March 10th, sneaking past 3-2. Will Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet repeat their success, or does Hume-Fogg has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
