Baseball Game Preview: Fair Lawn Cutters vs. Passaic Valley Hornets

The Fair Lawn Cutters will head out on the road to challenge the Passaic Valley Hornets at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. Neither Fair Lawn nor Passaic Valley posted many runs in their last games, so it might be the pitching crews that decide this one.

Northern Highlands hit Fair Lawn with a seven-run third inning on Saturday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Cutters came up short against the Highlanders, falling 14-2.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Passaic Valley, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They had just enough and edged out NV - Demarest 2-1. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Mason Condon spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on three hits and racked up seven Ks.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Dante Benvenuti, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs. Benvenuti is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season. Jake Delaney also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Passaic Valley's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Fair Lawn, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-7.

Everything went Fair Lawn's way against Passaic Valley in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as Fair Lawn made off with a 9-0 victory. Do the Cutters have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hornets turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.