Small-town Bullard Greene

to big-time Aggie maroon

COLLEGE STATION - Growing up as a youth all-star in any sport he played, Brodie Greene's favorite summer trip regardless of his team ventures was going to the College World Series.

For years, his father Kerry would load up the crew and trek to Omaha, Nebraska for the NCAA Division I tournament for a great week of college best.

The past two season, Brodie has just missed making the trip with his team, the Texas A&M Aggies.

"My dad (Kerry) was my coach in little league so I didn't really play for anyone else growing up and we would try to go up there every year," said Greene about his younger baseball roots.

"My Dad was the type of coach that would let you know what you needed to work on to get better for the next game. Even if you went four-for-four in that game, he'd find something you needed to fix," Brodie continued.

"Also being my dad there was extra push that the other kids didn't get from him," Brodie said with a chuckle in his voice.T

Former Bullard Panther Brodie Greene shows his power with a homerun for the Texas A&M Aggies. he past two seasons, the Aggies have come up just one-game shy of the Omaha trip as a team.

"Getting to play at TAMU was sort of luck on my part I think," Greene said about becoming an Aggie. "It was about mid-district during my senior year and Coach Deggs happened to come watch a game and asked me to come on a visit, and after I went he put the offer on the table and I took it.

"I don't have any regrets of coming to a division one school straight out of high school," said the Bullard High School two-sport record-setter. "The coaches are great here.

"Our head coach, Coach Childress is an East Texas guy like myself so we relate to each other a lot with stories about being back home in small towns."

This past year the Aggies rattled off a 46-19 overall record, and went 19-8 before winning the Big 12 tournament to advance and beat Houston at regionals in the finals.

The Aggies ran into the always tough, Rice Owls in super-regionals and lost. But it was a television broadcast of that Aggie-Owl matchup that ESPN later named Greene's catch in rightfield a 'Play of the Day,' on SportsCenter News.

But about playing at the next level, Greene says there is still more to learn.

"The game is totally different at this level and they've taught me so much. I can learn something new everyday when I'm around these coaches," Brodie added.

After graduation from Bullard, Greene played sparingly, as a freshman, used mainly for sure-handed defense support and base-running.

This past season however, the one-year letterman began to etch his spot as a regular for the Aggies in the near future.

This past season, he played in 53 games, starting 26 of those and playing three positions.

Nineteen games in rightfield, four games at second base and three games at third.

Greene has had his share of highlights but none like his play in rightfield against Rice.

"I came in to A&M as an infielder, but they also brought in two great shortstops my first two years so to play I had to move to the outfield," Greene said about his versatility. "It honestly wasn't a tough transition. I feel very natural and comfortable when I'm in the outfield.

"I'm also free to run into walls and rob home runs," jokingly said the former Panther about his 'SportsCenter Special' catch.

This past season overall, Brodie hit at a .290 average, had 42 hits in 145 plate appearances. Greene scored 34 runs and knocked in another 27 with RBI's. Seven hits went for doubles, three for triples and Brodie banged out four round-trippers.

Brodie put together two separate five-game hitting streaks.

In Big 12 action, Greene batted at a .315 average playing in 26 games with 11 starts. Brodie was 17-of-54 at the plate, scoring 13 runs while doubling twice.

In post season play this last season, Greene hit at a .333 clip, scoring five runs in his 10 appearances and six playoff starts.

Greene's first game-winning hit could not have come at a better time.

With two outs, Greene slapped two-run single to beat Houston at the regional tourney.

"One thing I've learned while being here is a quote the coach tells us, "Championships are won when nobody is watching," Brodie emphasized.

"It's a quote that's up in our batting cage to let us know that when we're away from practice there's always work that can be done to get better whether it's hitting in the cage or taking ground balls."

Greene's Bullard Panther days were a wonder in itself.

Four years of varsity basketball, all-district two of those years, and named Class 3A Player of the Year his final year that ended at the state tournament.

Four years of all-district shortstop play garnered District MVP honors as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Greene was also named first team All-State to the Class 3A squad as a junior and senior. Brodie batted .525 as a senior at Bullard and hit 12 homeruns as a junior.

Add-on four years of varsity baseball as the all-district shortstop, all four seasons. Named to every All-East Texas superlative possible. Brodie then capped off the high school laurels with a first team baseball spot for the second consecutive year.

This past summer, Brodie played summer league ball with the Beatrice Bruins of the M.I.N.K. League. During their short season Greene had a .303 average, hit one homerun, added 22 runs scored and drove-in another 10 with RBI's. Five doubles, two triples and 16 stolen bases aided the summer stats.