Bucks to play in Hamptons League Semifinals Saturday
When the Shelter Island Bucks entered the final week of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League’s (HCBL) regular season, they sat third in the standings with two games remaining before the playoffs. The regular-season standings determine playoff seeding in the league’s postseason, meaning the higher a team finishes, the more favorable its path through the bracket.
Entering Tuesday’s contest against the North Fork Ospreys — a team the Bucks have rivaled with all season — a storm loomed in the forecast. The two teams traded blows throughout the afternoon, including a home run from Bucks first baseman Ben Prince (University of Maine), leaving the score tied 8-8 through six innings.
By that point, rain had made Fiske Field unplayable, forcing the umpires to suspend play. Later that evening, the league announced Shelter Island would travel to Southampton on Wednesday to resume its game against the Ospreys at 2 p.m. before returning home to host the Riverhead Tomcats at 4 p.m.
Despite the unusual travel schedule, the Bucks went right back to work with one inning left to play. The coaching staff turned to Danny Kerr (Thomas Jefferson University), who last week broke the HCBL single-game strikeout record. Kerr needed just three batters to retire the side in the top of the seventh. In the bottom half of the inning, Prince delivered again, driving a ball into the outfield to score the winning run and seal the victory.
Just a few hours later, the Bucks returned home and handily defeated the Riverhead Tomcats, 14-4, marking their fourth win over Riverhead this season. Xavier Hall (Emerson College), who has primarily played in the outfield and made only relief appearances on the mound this season, earned the start for Shelter Island. Hall tossed five innings and struck out five batters before the game ended via the mercy rule.
While Shelter Island was batting in the bottom of the fifth inning, news arrived from across the bay that the Sag Harbor Whalers — the league’s second-place team entering the day — lost to the Westhampton Aviators.
Combined with the Bucks’ victory over Riverhead, the result pushed Shelter Island into second place in the final regular-season standings. As word spread through the dugout, smiles quickly turned into cheers as players and coaches celebrated the accomplishment before gathering for their postgame huddle in left field.
Despite finishing the regular season with an 18-15 record, the Bucks were in last place earlier this summer. After dropping seven consecutive games, they responded by winning six straight, a feat no other HCBL team accomplished this season.
Coach Andy Concepcion credited the turnaround to his team’s commitment to playing fundamentally sound baseball. For instance, during the resumed game against North Fork earlier that day, Concepcion called for a sacrifice bunt with the score tied. The move advanced a runner into scoring position, who later came around to score the winning run.
“Assistant coaches Tobin and Hansen and myself have been saying we have to believe in the two seed,” Concepcion said following Wednesday’s win. While earning the top seed became mathematically impossible earlier this week, he said the team remained focused on securing the next-best position entering the playoffs.
The HCBL playoffs begin Friday, July 24. By clinching the No. 2 seed, the Bucks and top-seeded Southampton Breakers each earned a bye into Saturday’s semifinal round.
“The way our rotation is set up, it’s going to be hard to beat us in the playoffs,” Concepcion said.
Saturday’s semifinal game time has yet to be announced, though it will be played at Fiske Field. If the Bucks advance, they will compete in Sunday’s HCBL Championship.
The championship location will depend on the opponent: if Shelter Island faces the top-seeded Breakers, the game will be played in Southampton. Against any other opponent, the championship will be hosted at Fiske Field.
