Carolina center fielder Chris Heisey has been named the Southern League’s Topps player of the month for May in a vote of league managers.

He was also the league’s player of the week for May 25-31.

The Mudcats start a five-game series against the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx tonight at 7:15 at Five County Stadium.

The league’s press release is after the jump.

MARIETTA, GA – Carolina Mudcats center fielder Chris Heisey has been named the Topps Player of the Month for May, as selected by the Southern League field managers.

The Topps Company of New York, in conjunction with Minor League Baseball, presents the award each month to the top performer in each of the 10 full-season leagues.

The 24-year-old Heisey has served as the catalyst to one of the most dominant runs in Mudcats history, leading Carolina to a 20-5 record since May 15.

When the streak began, the Mudcats were eight games under .500 and rotting in the North Division cellar but now own the league’s third best record (33-26) and are just two and a half games behind division rival Huntsville.

Heisey, the Southern League Hitter of the Week from May 25-31, finished the month on a nine-game hitting streak. He batted a blistering .571 (20-35) during that stretch and extended the streak to 13 consecutive games before it ended on June 5.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Heisey was 1-for-5 in the season opener but raised his average above the .300 mark with three hits in the next two ballgames. Since then, his average has not dipped below .300 and has been above .333 since April 24.

On May 29, Heisey, a native of Mount Joy, Pa., established a season-high with four RBI in a 3-for-5 performance against Montgomery. The game was the second in a five-game stretch in which Heisey drove in at least one run.

He has 10 multi-RBI games and has collected two or more hits 24 times, including four consecutive three-hit games from May 29-June 1.

A product of Division III Messiah (Pa.) College, Heisey led all Southern Leaguers in batting (.370), hits (81), slugging percentage (.621), extra-base hits (31) and runs (45) as of June 11. He also ranked second in doubles (18) and on-base percentage (.446) and was fifth with 11 home runs. Heisey is tied for the minor league lead in hits and leads all Double-A players with 136 total bases.

His heroics for the Mudcats have continued into the month of June, as Heisey blasted a game-winning solo homer in the 12th inning against Jacksonville on June 9.