July 29, 2011
Minor league notebook: Bittersweet week for Cecchini
by Roger Brown/
What may have been the best week of Garin Cecchini's professional career came with a bittersweet ending.
Cecchini, a third baseman with the Lowell Spinners, was named the New York-Penn League's Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday, but suffered a broken wrist when he was hit by a pitch during his first at-bat Saturday night and will likely miss the rest of the 2011 season.
The Red Sox made Cecchini a fourth-round selection in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. He received $1.31 million – first-round bonus money – to sign.
Cecchini, a Louisiana native, was batting .298 with 12 doubles, a triple, three home runs, 23 RBIs and 12 stolen bases when he was injured.
He earned the Player of the Week award by collecting 12 hits in 21 at-bats in seven games with Lowell. His hits included a home run and four doubles. He drove in seven runs, stole two bases and scored nine times during the week.
Cecchini was batting .184 at the end of June, but owned a nine-game hitting streak when he was hit by the pitch that broke his wrist.
Cecchini is the second Lowell player to be named the league's Player of the Week this season. Third baseman Travis Shaw won the award for the week that ended July 3.
PawSox sweep awards
Pawtucket catcher Ryan Lavarnway and starting pitcher Brandon Duckworth were selected as the International League Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
Lavarnway, 23, has hit .372 with 13 home runs and 36 RBIs in 36 games since he was promoted from Double-A Portland.
Lavarnway, a sixth-round selection in the 2008 draft, won the league's Player of the Week award after he hit .409 and led the league four home runs, 11 RBIs, eight runs scored and a 1.091 slugging percentage last week. He hit .284 with 14 home runs and 38 RBIs in 55 games with Portland this season.
Duckworth. who throws right-handed, was the only International League pitcher to win two games last week. He didn't allow a run in his two appearances.
Duckworth pitched five scoreless innings during a 4-1 victory over Lehigh. He allowed four hits and walked one batter. He also pitched 6 2/3 innings in a 4-1 triumph over Buffalo on Saturday. He surrendered six hits an one walk in that victory.
Duckworth, who had gone two months without a victory before the All-Star break, has won his last three starts.
Duckworth, 35, is in his 14th season as a professional pitcher. He has pitched 134 games in the major leagues with the Phillies, Astros, and Royals. In 2001 he was named the International League's Most Valuable Pitcher after going 13-2 with a 2.63 ERA for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Stolen record
New Hampshire Fisher Cats outfielder Anthony Gose set a franchise record for stolen bases in a season when he stole two bases during a loss to New Britain on Monday.
The two stolen bases gave Gose 47 for the season. Darin Mastroianni set the previous record when he stole 46 bases last season.
The Philadelphia Phillies selected Gose in the second round (51st overall) of the 2008 draft. He was traded to the Houston Astros as part of the deal for pitcher Roy Oswalt last July, and was then shipped to Toronto later that month in exchange for first baseman Brett Wallace.
