The Portage Padres season is underway, and a couple of young men are making an impact on the squad.
Carson Dubois and Kade Maryniuk are both on the diamond, with Maryniuk handling some of the pitching duties, and Dubois adding a home run to his hitting totals so far.
Maryniuk says that the hitting for their squad so far gives him a lot of confidence as a pitcher.
"Our hitting has been really good compared to everyone else's. We have a very deep lineup this year, so it's feeling nice to pitch around these guys."
Dubois, last season's Rookie of the Year, adds that so far, things have worked out pretty much ideally for the team to start the season.
"We're looking good. We're pretty hot out of the gate to start here this year, and we've got a couple new guys. A couple guys that aren't back, but I think when it all shakes out, we've got a good chance, and we've got a good squad going."
The team has tallied 49 runs while giving up only 18, contributing to their four straight wins to begin the season. Dubois outline what happened in their last game, an 8-6 score over the Minnedosa Mavericks.
"It was a good win. We had 11 guys out in Minnedosa on a Wednesday. It was a nice pesky win, but we got the job done. There were a couple other home runs, Riley Borody hit a two-run home run, so he one-upped me, but it was all good."
The Padres' season will continue on Friday night, May 30, when they faceoff with the Mavericks in a rematch, and and another 10 games to finish out their regular season. Following the regular season, the team will look to clinch the Santa Clara Baseball League pennant for the sixth time in nine seasons.
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