Shelter Island Bucks coach targets a championship

Coach Andy Concepcion can’t wait to get to Shelter Island to start a march of the Bucks to a Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League championship this summer. He brings 25 years of experience coaching, mentoring and guiding student athletes to reach their full potential, mostly in Las Vegas and teams in Utah.

What convinced him to come East to coach the Bucks?

You might say the coach is returning home. He was born in New York, starting life in Yonkers, then his family moved to Rockland County, then Westchester and, with his father who was born in Puerto Rico, spent two years there, before returning to the states.

He played as a catcher and first baseman, but his main sport as a child and when he was a student at Westchester Community College was football. He also played football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

But he was always around baseball and loved the sport.

Teams he’s coached have played in the Miracle League, a nationwide baseball program for children and adults with mental and physical challenges. Players are always enthusiastic about those games where they are assigned to partner with the athletes who need assistance, since some are in wheelchairs or other mobility devices, to bat, throw, run bases and build their self-esteem.

Coach Concepcion had been anxious to return to the East and when the opportunity to coach the Bucks presented itself, he was quick to confirm his interest. “I’m going to really win it for Brian now,” he said about Bucks General Manager Brian Cass. After one phone call with Mr. Cass, he understood the challenges, but learned also about the enthusiasm Islanders have for their team. Hearing about the community support, he redoubled his determination to win a championship for fans.

Anyone who wonders if he can achieve his goals needs only to listen to those who know him best and a number of his former colleagues have offered their assessments of the coach’s abilities. Frank Thomas, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 described Coach Concepcion as a man of “exceptional professionalism, leadership and dedication” who “has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to develop players both on and off the field.”

Similar words of praise have come from others who have known Coach Concepcion through the years, making it clear why Mr. Cass hired him for the Bucks summer of 2026.

“This will be the best Bucks season. At the end of the day, we want to help these kids be better,” the coach said, referring to the players who will be on the Island this summer.