Shelter Island Bucks coach and GM discuss the season: Losing hurts, but experiences to cherish

As July came to a close, unfortunately so did the Shelter Island Bucks baseball season.

The Islanders played hard this year for their loyal fans, but their efforts placed them second to last in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League’s standings with a record of 13-19-2.

Head Coach Jason Leta and General Manager Brian Cass spoke to the Reporter about their experiences this year, and reflected on the highs, lows, and other aspects of the season.

Some say sports is not all about winning, but the highlight for both GM Cass and Coach Leta this year was definitely the victories, particularly their many comebacks and walk-off wins. The low point in the season for Coach Leta was, of course, falling short in their goal to make the playoffs.

The coach was impressed with the support the Bucks got from the community. “I’ve never seen a team of this nature mean so much to a community,” he said, even though sometimes Islanders showed a bit of tough love.

“I was eating at the Islander one morning, and people were talking about the game last night,” Coach Leta said. “It surprised me to hear it was a topic of conversation, and they were not too kind about how we played that night!”

He added he was pleasantly surprised “to see all the community members show up to the games,” but at times he felt bad when “we would get down early, and many people would leave, and miss some of our amazing comebacks.”

Coach Leta said he learned a lot from his Shelter Island experience, and there are things he would do differently if he was given the opportunity. “I would have made contact with the players sooner to find out more about them before they got to the Island and provide some more motivation and inspiration,” he said.

For the players, playing every day through the 32-game schedule can be tough both physically and mentally, he added. “My goal was to get them at-bats and innings … The only way to get better in this game is just to play, and play these guys did,” he said.

Playing for Shelter Island offers challenges that other teams in the league don’t have to deal with. Coach Leta noted that Shelter Island is “unique and different from the Hamptons.”

GM Cass joked that the players learned that “there isn’t a McDonald’s around every corner.”

And Coach Leta also noted that, “No other team is handing out ferry tickets to travel to away games, and needs to take ferry traffic into account.” Nevertheless he said, “It was a great experience, and I am glad I did it, especially being able to represent Shelter Island.”

It is a tremendous effort from the community to host a Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League team. Coach Leta and GM Cass — whom Coach Leta called, “the best GM in the league” — wanted to thank everyone involved.

Appreciation goes out to host families, the announcers, the Lions Club, food and ball sponsors, the players, the other team’s coaches, batboy Joe Rasmussen and more. Without all of them, the season wouldn’t be possible, they said.

From the Reporter, thanks to all the Bucks players, management, coaches and fans. We’ll see you next year at Fiske Field!