The Portage Padres are scheduled to hit the diamond in Portage la Prairie Thursday. They welcome the Plumas Pirates for a Santa Clara Baseball League matchup at Rotary Republic Park.

The Padres have been off the field since last Monday, and even then, the full roster wasn't in attendance, so some players haven't played in over two weeks. They've got a busy six days ahead of them, but it starts tonight against the Pirates.

"Plumas is always a tough team to play, just like any other team in this league," says Padres' Tyler Butler. "I don't think it matters who we play now, we just have to be prepared every night. We need to definitely have a good start by coming out on top of this first game of the five-game stretch."

Portage still sits in first place in the league with a 5-0-1 record, while the Cubs sit a game back at 5-2-1. The Pirates are looking to get back to .500 tonight as they're in sixth with a 4-5 record. The Padres play a doubleheader Sunday against Dauphin in Portage. They welcome Neepawa Monday, and then the A's on Tuesday.

Thursday's game against the Pirates gets going at 7 p.m. at Rotary Republic Park, depending on field conditions.