Carter, Deduno honored in Texas League

In the state where bigger is always better, Rockies prospect Samuel Deduno and A's prospect Chris Carter came up huge in 2009.

Deduno, who was 12-4 with a 2.69 ERA for Tulsa through August, was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Year, and Carter, who hit .337 with 24 home runs and 101 RBIs for Midland before a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento, was named the circuit's Player of the Year.

Tulsa's right-hander leads the league in wins and ERA and is four strikeouts shy of the lead in that category with eight games left in the regular season, giving Deduno a shot at the pitching Triple Crown.

The announcement came on Monday, when the league also released the postseason All-Star roster and named the Manager and Coach of the Year.

Darren Bush, who has led the Midland RockHounds to a 73-59 record going into the last day of August, was selected as Manager of the Year. Bush is in his first year as a Texas League skipper, having managed the California League's Stockton Ports in 2007 and 2008. He's been working in the Oakland system since serving as the hitting coach for Stockton in 2005.

The Mike Coolbaugh Coach of the Year Award goes to Arkansas' Ken Patterson, who's the Travelers' pitching coach. 2009 marked Patterson's third year in that role with Arkansas and his fifth as a pitching coach in the Angels organization. Through Sunday, his staff boasts a league-best 3.76 ERA and no other team has allowed fewer hits (1,115).

Arkansas starting pitcher Trevor Reckling, a postseason All-Star, can attest to Patterson's coaching method. Reckling made his Double-A debut this season, and after posting a 3.37 ERA in Class A last year, has put up a 2.93 mark in the Texas League through August.

Carter, who was promoted to the Triple-A River Cats on Aug. 25, is one of three Midland players selected to the postseason All-Star roster. He's joined by second baseman Adrian Cardenas, who's also with Sacramento now, and pitcher Graham Godfrey, who had 109 strikeouts and just 49 walks going into September.

Corpus Christi's Drew Locke, who leads the league in hitting and RBIs, was one of two selections from that team.

The award winners and post-season All-Star selections are voted on by beat writers -- with one vote per city -- team play-by-play broadcasters and Texas League managers.

2009 Texas League Postseason All-Star Team
Infielders/Outfielders			DH/Pitchers
POS.	PLAYER NAME	TEAM	POS.	PLAYER NAME	TEAM
C	Hank Conger	Arkansas	DH	Chad Tracy	Frisco
1B	Chris Carter	Midland	RHSP	Jhoulys Chacin	Tulsa
2B	Daniel Descalso	Springfield	RHSP	Samuel Deduno	Tulsa
3B	Darin Holcomb	Tulsa	RHSP	Graham Godfrey	Midland
SS	Wladimir Sutil	Corpus Christi	RHSP	Trey Hearne	Springfield
UTIL	Adrian Cardenas	Midland	RHRP	Andrew Johnston	Tulsa
OF	Craig Gentry	Frisco	RHSP	Lance Lynn	Springfield
OF	Tyler Henley	Springfield	LHSP	Trevor Reckling	Arkansas
OF	Drew Locke	Corpus Christi
Manager of the Year: Darren Bush, Midland
Pitcher of the Year: Samuel Deduno, Tulsa
Player of the Year: Chris Carter, Midland
Mike Coolbaugh Texas League Coach of the Year: Ken Patterson, Arkansas