Langston Hughes is preparing for their first region matchup of the season on Monday. They will be playing at home against the Banneker Trojans at 6:00 p.m. Langston Hughes has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with three straight defeats, while Banneker will come in with four straight victories.
Langston Hughes is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to ten runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against New Manchester on Thursday. They lost 12-2 to the Jaguar.
Harry Gibson stepped up to lead a balanced group of hitters: he scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Darien Whitfield was another key player, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Banneker got the win against Douglass on Thursday by a conclusive 10-2. Considering the Trojans have won three contests by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Jeremiah Brown made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out 13 batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing Four bases. while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Banneker is undefeated when Brown posts two or more stolen bases, but 1-2 otherwise.
In other batting news, Banneker let Denzell Broadnax and Anthony Lightfoot run wild. Broadnax scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 1-for-3, while Lightfoot scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Broadnax is becoming a predictor of Banneker's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Jayson Robinson, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Banneker's win bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Langston Hughes, their loss dropped their record down to 2-6.
Banneker's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Langston Hughes hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .314. It's a different story for Banneker, though, as they've only averaged .228. Will they be able to contain Langston Hughes' hitters?
Everything went Langston Hughes' way against Banneker when the teams last played back in February of 2023, as Langston Hughes made off with a 17-0 victory. Does Langston Hughes have another victory up their sleeve, or will Banneker turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
