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Cowgill awarded Rookie of the Year

Arizona farmhand adds to collection of '11 awards
August 30, 2011
ROUND ROCK, Texas - Collin Cowgill of the Reno Aces has been named the 2011 Pacific Coast League Rookie of the Year, the league announced today.

Cowgill was voted the league's top rookie after a balloting of the 16 PCL field managers as well as media representatives from across the league. The award was created in 1998 and honors a player's outstanding achievement during his first year at the Triple-A level.

Cowgill, 25, played in 98 games with Reno this season, batting .354 with 24 doubles, 13 home runs, 70 runs batted in, 95 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. Despite being promoted to the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 23rd, his first career Major League call-up, the Kentucky University product still ranks second in the PCL in batting average and on-base percentage (.430).

Selected by Arizona in the fifth round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Cowgill has amassed several achievements in his first year in Triple-A. The right-handed hitter led all of professional baseball with a .640 batting average and .700 OBP during the week of April 25-May 1, helping him be named PCL Player of the Week. He also earned another Player of the Week honor for the week of June 6-12 after he became the third PCL player in 2011 to hit for the cycle. He was named to the league's Post-Season All-Star team as well as the Mid-Season All-Star team, where he was the top vote-getter and starting center fielder.

Cowgill becomes the first player in Reno's franchise history to be named the PCL's top rookie and is the second player ever from the Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate to earn the award. The first was Josh Whitesell with the Tucson Sidewinders in 2008.

Among the others to receive votes for the Rookie of the Year award were Joey Butler (Round Rock), Matt Carpenter (Memphis), David Cooper (Las Vegas), Johnny Giavotella (Omaha), Brett Lawrie (Las Vegas), Alex Liddi (Tacoma), Anthony Rizzo (Tucson), and Trayvon Robinson (Tacoma/Albuquerque).