Cowgill continues sensational start

Collin Cowgill hasn't had a problem making the transition from the University of Kentucky to the Northwest League.

Cowgill homered twice, drove in a career-high six runs and scored four times Saturday night as the Yakima Bears crushed the Boise Hawks, 14-0, at Memorial Stadium.

The reigning Northwest League Player of the Week leads the circuit with six homers and 18 RBIs in his first 11 professional games.

"I feel like I've been working a lot with our hitting coach [Chris Briones]," Cowgill said. "He's been working with me on my swing. There's a big adjustment going from a metal bat to a wood bat. He knows how important it is to get shorter and quicker with your swing."

The 22-year-old center fielder got in a few good cuts against the Hawks (6-6) en route to his first multi-homer game. He crushed a grand slam in the third inning and added a two-run blast in the seventh to break out of a 1-for-15 slump.

"I figured they were going to stay away from me because they were throwing inside earlier. I just got enough of it to get it out," Cowgill said of his first homer. "It was the same count as the grand slam. It was the same pitch, just a little farther away."

Selected by the Diamondbacks in the fifth round of this month's First-Year Player Draft, Cowgill was a first-team All-America at the University of Kentucky, where he hit .361 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs this season.

Cowgill wasn't the only player with a big game for the Bears (6-6) as Alfredo Marte went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Yakima starter Houston Summers (2-0) allowed five hits and one walk with four strikeouts over seven innings to lower his ERA to 1.83.

Former first-round pick Mark Pawelek (1-1) surrendered seven runs -- three earned -- on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in two innings for Boise.