Aug. 14, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Former Kentucky consensus first-team All-American outfielder Sawyer Carroll has been promoted to the low A Midwest League, debuting with the Forth Wayne Wizards on Wednesday night.
Carroll, a native of Henryetta, Okla., batted 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk during his first game in the Midwest League. Carroll started in right field and hit cleanup in the lineup during a 5-3 loss to South Bend.
One of the more interesting stories in the promotion for Carroll was that in his first game in low A with the Wizards, Carroll played against former UK teammates Collin Cowgill and Sean Coughlin, both first-team All-Americans in 2007 and 2008 at Kentucky and current members of South Bend. Cowgill played left field and hit in the two hole, going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, while Coughlin batted cleanup and finished 1-for-3 with an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Carroll, a 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, tore up Northwest League pitching in just 46 games, ranking among the league leaders in 12-of-13 offensive categories. While playing for the Eugene Emeralds in his first season as a professional, Carroll ranked 12th in the league in average (.299; 53-for-177), second in runs scored (41), second in RBI (39), fourth in walks (32), third in total bases (97), eighth in on-base percentage (.403), third in slugging (.548), third in OPS (.951), eighth in doubles (14) and sixth in triples (3). Carroll’s eight homers ranks tied for second in the league, three behind Cowgill’s 11 homers. Cowgill needed only 20 games in the Northwest League to launch his league leading 11 home runs, earning a promotion to low Class A.
Carroll, a sweet-swinging left-handed hitter, capped of his two-year Kentucky career as the only consensus first-team All-American in school history. The third-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in June, Carroll hit an Southeastern Conference-leading .419 (98-for-234), with 22 doubles, three triples, 19 homers and a school-record 83 RBI, swiping 12-of-12 bases in 2008, helping lead Kentucky to a school-record 44 wins and an appearance in the Ann Arbor NCAA Regional Championship.
