Southeast's Leigh returns to old form after shoulder surgery

James Leigh always believed he could recover from shoulder surgery that set him back for nearly two years.

But to lead or be high in the Ohio Valley Conference's major statistical pitching categories more than a month into the season, while also ranking toward the top nationally?

That might have been asking a bit much.

"It is a surprise," Southeast Missouri State's junior left-hander said of his sensational start. "I've never had an ERA like this."

Entering this weekend's OVC series at Tennessee-Martin, Leigh leads the conference in wins and strikeouts per game, while ranking second in ERA.

Leigh also began the week fifth nationally in strikeouts per game, eighth in ERA, tied for 12th in hits allowed per game and tied for 14th in wins.

Leigh, who will get the ball for Saturday's opener of a three-game set, is 4-1 with an 0.72 ERA. He has struck out 36 in 25 innings, while allowing just 13 hits. He has walked 13.

"He's been really good," sophomore catcher Jim Klocke said. "He's been almost unhittable."

It's been a long road back to dominance for Leigh, who missed all of his 2006 junior college season because of a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Leigh was still in the process of recovering when he arrived at Southeast in the fall of 2006, and he threw just 17 1/3 innings for the Redhawks last season as he continued strengthening the shoulder.

"I just tried to get my arm back in shape, get my velocity back, get mentally ready," said Leigh, who had an 0-1 record and a 6.23 ERA at Southeast in 2007. "It was tough. ... I had never had any type of injury."

Southeast coach Mark Hogan took a patient approach with Leigh because he knew the potential in the left arm of a player who already has been selected twice in the major league draft.

Leigh went in the 39th round to the White Sox in 2004 after his senior year of high school, and in the 37th round to the Twins in 2005 following his freshman season of junior college.

In both instances, Leigh was a draft-and-follow selection, where the organization that picked him didn't want to sign him at the time, but wanted to watch him more while retaining his rights for a year.

"Both teams that drafted me, they hadn't seen me pitch much and they just wanted to see how I progressed," Leigh said.

Hogan eased Leigh into things last season, giving him four starts during nonconference games. The native of Bryant, Ark., showed flashes, but struggled with his control.

"He came to us in about his seventh or eighth month of rehab, and he didn't do much for us that first fall," said Hogan, who signed Leigh in the fall of 2005, before his shoulder injury. "Last season he was still getting out of the woods, but he came back and had a real good fall.

"Now we're seeing the guy we signed. He just gets better and better every time he pitches."

Leigh impressed enough during the first few weeks of the season to earn the start for Southeast's OVC opener against Tennessee Tech last Friday.

Leigh held the league's top-hitting squad, which entered with a .346 batting average, to just two hits over seven scoreless innings as he earned his first OVC victory.

"James has just been tremendous for us," Hogan said.

Leigh said he is now completely healthy, which is a good feeling when he takes the mound.

"I can't even tell I had surgery. I think I'm even better than I was before," he said.

About the only thing missing is the velocity he used to have, although he's still hopeful that will come back.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Leigh said he was clocked between 88 and 92 mph in junior college before the injury, which caught the interest of major league scouts.

He said he probably throws in the "mid 80s, sometimes the upper 80s. I would love to get it [the velocity] back to what it was."

Leigh said switching to a two-seam fastball at Southeast -- he formerly used a four-seamer -- has helped his movement considerably.

"It just does batters in," said Leigh, who added that he would love to give professional baseball a shot down the line.

Leigh's curve is also a pitch that hitters have struggled to hit.

"He's really effective with that," Hogan said.

Leigh primarily was a reliever in junior college, which makes what he has accomplished so far this season even more surprising to him.

"It's like I'm a totally different pitcher than in junior college," he said.

While Leigh's numbers suggest he is Southeast's ace, he is not about to claim that title without qualification.

Senior right-hander Dustin Renfrow was second-team all-OVC last year, when he took the ball for the first game of Southeast's conference series.

Renfrow was slated for that role this season, but for the Tennessee Tech series -- with Southeast's bullpen a question mark -- Renfrow was held back during the doubleheader in case he was needed to close out a game.

So instead of pitching the second game of the Tech series, Leigh went in the opener.

After Renfrow wasn't needed, he threw the third and final contest of the series, firing a complete-game victory.

Southeast likely will use that formula for at least the next few weekends, meaning Leigh will continue getting the ball first in OVC play.

"It's a good feeling, but everybody knows Dusty is still our ace," said Leigh, who suffered his first loss of the season in a relief role Wednesday against Missouri State, as the Bears scored two unearned runs off him.

The way Hogan sees things, if there is a debate over who is Southeast's ace, that is not a bad thing.

"If James keeps pitching the way he has been, then it's a good problem to have," Hogan said.