Rochester Shortstop Hitting .379

Former Ole Miss infielder Matt Tolbert is off to strong start for Minnesota's AAA affiliate, the Rochester (N.Y.) Redwings. As of Monday, Tolbert was hitting .379, giving him the lead in the International League batting average race, .21 points ahead of Buffalo's Franklin Gutierrez.

Tolbert was selected in the 16th round of the 2004 draft by the Twins. He grew up in the metropolis of Woodville, Miss., and played his high school ball at Centreville Academy, the alma mater of the Sawyer Boys and LSU offensive guard Will Arnold, a top 2008 NFL draft prospect.

Possibly Tolbert's greatest claim to fame is being the younger brother of Ben Tolbert, a former standout quarterback for Sigma Nu's Charity Bowl teams.

We're wishing Matt the best and look forward to watching him play major league ball in the Metrodome in the very near future.

OTHER MINOR LEAGUE UPDATES

Mark Holliman is 4-0 with a 0.55 ERA for the AA Tennessee Smokies, a Chicago Cubs affiliate.

Seth Smith is hitting .237 with 1 HR for the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox. The 24-year-old former Hillcrest star and Ole Miss quarterback hit .294 with 15 homeruns last year for AA Tulsa.