MONTGOMERY -- Montgomery Biscuits former third baseman Evan Longoria was named the Southern League's 2007 Most Valuable Player on Thursday.

Longoria, who came to the Biscuits as a 20-year-old in the beginning of August, 2006, provided some of the biggest moments in Biscuits history.  On September 9 at Riverwalk Stadium, his walkoff home run off of Jacksonville's Mark Alexander in Game Three of the Southern League Divisional Playoff Series catapulted the Biscuits into the Southern League Championship Series on their way to the 2006 championship.

Prior to his promotion to triple-A Durham at the end of July, he batted .307 (currently 5th in the league) while establishing a Biscuits record with 21 home runs.  His last one came in his final BIscuits at-bat, a grand slam in the 10th inning on July 30 that won the Biscuits the game at Birmingham.  With that home run, he surpassed Delmon Young's Biscuits record, established in 2005 when the outfielder earned Southern League MVP honors.

Longoria also currenty places in the league's top 10 in OPS (1st, .930), slugging (1st, .528), On-base percentage (4th, .403), runs (4th, 78), RBIs (5th, 76) and total bases (9th, 201).  His run and RBI totals led the league at the time of his promotion.

From April 11 until May 20, Longoria reached base in every game.  His 37-game on-base streak is a Biscuits record.

The Southern League previously honored Longoria with Player of the Month (May) and Player of the Week (Jun 18-24) awards.  Longoria could not play in the Southern League All-Star Game, despite being voted to the starting team.  Instead, he participted in the 2007 All-Star Futures Game in San Francisco.  As the starting third baseman and third-place hitter for the U.S. Team, Longoria had a first-inning double and was hit by a pitch.

The 21-year-old was the third pick in the 2006 June First-Year Player Draft.  He was recently named the best third baseman prospect in baseball by Baseball America and the overall best prospect in baseball by Minor League News.

The MVP award was voted upon by the Southern League's field managers, radio broadcasters and print media.