(May 7, 2008 - Ann Arbor, Mich.) -- The Concordia baseball team, hot of the heels of its best season ever, continues to build an even stronger version for the 2009 season as the Cardinals signed three players to National Letters of Intent recently. Concordia signed David Sutton, an infielder from Armada High School, and two outfielders in Hastings High School product Ricky Mathis and a junior college transfer in Sean Quesada of Macomb Community College.

Sutton had a tremendous junior season for Armada as was named First Team All-District as a pitcher and Honorable Mention as an infielder, while also being named to the Honorable Mention All-Area Dream Team. Sutton hit .327 with 12 runs batted in and seven stolen bases while finishing with a 5-2 record on the mound with a 2.63 earned run average.

"David projects nicely for our infield in the future and will also be given a look on the mound in the fall," head coach Karl Kling said.

While Sutton brings strong fundamentals defensively, Ricky Mathis of Hastings High School brings a lot of speed and energy to Concordia.

The diminutive Mathis, all of 5-8 and 150 pounds, is a switch-hitter who batted .370 for the Saxons as a junior and stole 20 bases in 21 attempts.

"Ricky has a passion that is unsurpassed and with his speed can make things happen," Kling said. "The biggest adjustment for him will be in the areas of making solid contact to better utilize his speed and make some improvements defensively with arm strength. With his speed, his defense should come around a lot sooner and that will help him adjust to the college game."

Both of the high school recruits are strong academically, something Kling has been stressing with his players, particularly this season as he implements a new requirement to play for the Cardinals: an minimum GPA of 2.5 (the national rule is 2.0).

"Academics play such a major role in actually being able to step foot on the field," Kling said. "We thought the bar was set too low and kids were doing the bare minimum just to get by. Unfortunately, they couldn't get into our programs such as Education or Business as upperclassmen, because they didn't meet the requirements. We have addressed that not only with our current kids, but those coming in. Ricky and David are exactly what we are looking for in Cardinal baseball players."

While the two young players will try to develop and grow, Kling signed a player who should make an impact right away when he inked Quesada from Macomb CC. This season, the outfielder is hitting .363 for the Monarchs with 10 doubles, a pair of triples, a home run and 24 RBI.

"Sean is a little older and much wiser than when he cam out of Troy High School," Kling said. "He will bring a lot to our program in maturity but also strong ability. Speed is always important in our outfield, but we also like the fact that he makes things happen offensively. We expect Sean to be very good for us next year as we continue to improve our program."

Concordia finished the season 27-22, their first winning season since 1990, and a new school record for wins.

"We will truly miss the contributions of our seniors, particularly Alex Hoover, Justin Gauthier and Drew Linder," Kling said. "It's always hard to replace the conference player of the year (Hoover), a first team all-conference pitcher and school record holder (Gauthier) and a two-time honorable mention all-conference pitcher (Linder). But we return so many players and will build upon that talent, that next season should be the first 30-win season ever and hopefully we'll be able to finally move pass the conference tournament."