Port Neches duo share in Buchholz thrill

[KFDM COOP]

Port Neches duo share in Buchholz thrill

By Dave Rogers

Special to The News

Big news in Beantown touched off Port Neches partying when Clay Buchholz became the first Boston Red Sox rookie to pitch a no-hitter.

Mark Brevell, the Port Arthur native who is now assistant baseball coach at Port Neches-Groves, was Buchholz’ high school head coach in Lumberton. Former PN-G basketball star Bobby Straface is head of SSE Group, the player agency that represents Buchholz in negotiating playing and endorsement contracts.

Brevell was eating dinner out with family and friends and almost missed seeing Buchholz’ Sept. 1 no-hitter. Straface wasn’t about to miss it ñ no matter how uncomfortable he made his guests.

“I went to Clay’s first start,†Straface said of his client’s Aug. 17 major league debut at Fenway Park, “but this time I had a party at my house (near Dallas) and all my neighbors were there. The poor women that were there weren’t happy with me, because they had to sit still for three hours.

“I kept saying ‘Stay where you are and I’ll tell you later why you can’t move.’ â€

Straface wasn’t about to jinx Buchholz’ no-hit bid by mentioning it. Or by going against baseball superstition that says just one wrong step or word by a fan thousands of miles away could foul the whole thing up.

“It was funny. I used every trick in the book to keep the women in front of the big screen TV. It was the most special night I’ve had with Clay since the day he was drafted.â€

Brevell picked up one of his biggest coaching achievements in 2002 when Buchholz was a junior and pitched Lumberton to two wins in five days over Brenham in the regional quarterfinals.

The coach said he sneaked out of teacher in-service training to listen to most of the Aug. 17 game on the satellite radio in his truck.

But he was distracted by a family outing Sept. 1.

“We were eating at Applebee’s with our trainer, Ricardo Serna, and his family, when I thought about it,†Brevell recalled. “So I called (PN-G head baseball coach) Jay Stone, who was with some other coaches watching the Texas football game on satellite TV.

“I said ‘Clay’s pitching today, but I don’t know if it was a day or night game. Would you put it on and see if they’re playing right now, tell me how he’s doing?â€

Stone told Brevell that Buchholz was pitching a shutout in the sixth inning.

“I asked him how many hits he’d given up, and he said he didn’t know,†Brevell told the story. “I told him to find out and call me back.

“He called me back after the seventh inning and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but Clay’s still in the game and he has a no-hitter going.’ â€

[AJ25]

great article. met brevell when i was like 8. great coach. probably the future HC over there..