Baseball Game Preview: Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders vs. New Providence Pioneers

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders are taking a road trip to face off against the New Providence Pioneers at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The last three games Scotch Plains-Fanwood has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

On Thursday, Scotch Plains-Fanwood didn't have quite enough to beat Cranford and fell 7-6.

Joe LaRosa was cooking despite his team's loss, going 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, one triple, and one run. That triple was his first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Bolton, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run.

Meanwhile, New Providence was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They came up short against Union Catholic, falling 8-2.

New Providence's loss dropped their record down to 2-12. As for Scotch Plains-Fanwood, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost six of their last seven matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 8-7 record this season.

New Providence's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Scotch Plains-Fanwood hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .316. It's a different story for New Providence, though, as they've only averaged .249. Will they be able to contain Scotch Plains-Fanwood's hitters?

Scotch Plains-Fanwood took their win against New Providence in their previous meeting back in April by a conclusive 13-2 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Raiders since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.