First of all, Happy Easter! I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable weekend.

I've been following SEMO college baseball pretty closely this spring, and three guys have caught my attention that I believe are worth mentioning:

Justin Wheeler, LF - Wheeler transferred from Golden West Community College, CA and has been on fire ever since. The 21-year-old righty has hit 4 home runs in 14 games and has been the best player on the Redhawks so far.

Jim Klocke, C - Klocke was on my pre-season preview of SEMO baseball and has yet to disappoint. After a terrific freshman campaign, Klocke is back to playing perfect defense and great on-base skills. He and Wheeler have been devastating at the top of the lineup so far. A look at their stats so far:

	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	R	BB	K
Wheeler	54	.370	.485	.667	4	18	14	8	4
Klocke	44	.364	.481	.568	3	5	13	9	10

They have been very impressive so far, but perhaps most impressive has been LHP James Leigh.

James Leigh, LHP - The 21-year-old junior had a pretty unremarkable 2007 after transferring from Texarkana CC, but this year he has been lights out. He was voted OVC Co-Pitcher of the week last week, sharing the honor with, of all people, Christian Friedrich, potential first-round draft pick of the Cardinals. An excerpt from the article:

In two outings last week, Leigh earned victories against Memphis and Lyon, throwing eight total innings with 13 strikeouts and only one earned run allowed. In his start Saturday against Memphis, he tossed six innings and notched 10 strikeouts, giving up only four hits and the one earned run. On Monday, he pitched two innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts to get the win in a combined shutout versus Lyon College.

These are the type of under-the-radar guys that the Cardinals should have their eyes on:

	GS	W	L	IP	ERA	K	BB	K/9	BB/9
Leigh	4	4	0	24.0	0.75	36	12	13.5	4.5

He's been a strikeout machine so far. I'm anxious to see him in person to see what type of stuff he has, and I'll continue to check in with updates as the season progresses.

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I received an e-mail from Kaliegh Shidler to put in a plug for the Cardinals on XM radio, which will be broadcasting every Cardinals game this season, and I said I would be glad to oblige. Here is some of what's in store at XM radio:

Major League Baseball fans endured the winter and each of their team’s offseason transactions – good and bad – and have had a chance to check out their team’s 2008 make up during Spring Training.

As the weather begins to heat up so does XM Satellite Radio’s MLB coverage. From Opening Day through the World Series, XM, the official satellite radio network of MLB, has fans covered –as they broadcast EVERY GAME, EVERY TEAM, EVERYWHERE. As the countdown to Opening Day begins, here is a list of what XM has on deck for all MLB fans:

“Play Ball!” Channel

What better way to kick off another year of “ America ’s Pastime” than with an amazing audio tribute to the historic game. For 48 hours leading up to Opening Day, XM Radio will broadcast 412 songs about the sport, 27 songs about players, 7 dramatic readings of baseball stories and various classic calls of historic plays – truly an audio euphoria for every baseball fan. From March 29-30, fans will hear non-stop classics on XM Channel 120 such as “Take me out to the Ballgame,” “Casey at the Bat,” and the Shot Heard Round the World.

Complete MLB Coverage – Every Team, Every Game, Everywhere

XM will continue its complete coverage of Major League Baseball by nationally broadcasting every game in the 2008 MLB regular season and playoffs where fans can stay connected to their favorite teams through their local play-by-play broadcast.

In addition to play-by-play broadcast, XM’s MLB line up includes extensive programming with XM Channel 175, “MLB Home Plate,” offering baseball junkies in-depth analysis, baseball talk and fantasy tips from respected baseball personalities such as Buck Martinez, Charley Steiner and Kevin Kennedy – 24 hours a day.

On-Air Talent Predictions

With a combined sense of background and knowledge on the subject XM personalities including Charley Steiner, Joe Castellano, Holden Kushner and Ronnie Lane offer their respective predictions for the 2008 season in every major category including: Division Winners, Wild Card Winners, Cy Young Winners, MVPs and Breakout Performers of the Year for each league. Most importantly, they have selected the Pennant winners and World Series Champion with the NL’s Chicago Cubs as the most popular pick to win the World Series.