COACHES
HEAD COACH
Charlie Shepard
Coach Shepard was the pitching coach for the Woodstock River Bandits from 2019-22. The staffs he helped recruit and manage boasted the VBL Pitcher of the Year in two of those seasons. In addition, the team ERA of those pitching staffs have ranked within the top two in the league over that same period. (The Valley League cancelled its 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic).
Shepard has served as Head Baseball Coach at Luray High School since 2019 and was Head Coach at Broadway High School from 2011-2015. He has coached numerous players who went on to have
successful collegiate careers.
Shepard has also been a manager in the Rockingham County Baseball League (RCBL) for ten years,
managing the Broadway Bruins and leading the Bridgewater Reds to the championship series in 2012.
Conor Miller
Pitching Coach
Conor Miller joins the New Market Rebel coaching staff as their Pitching Coach.
Miller spent 4 years at York College of Pennsylvania under Coach Mike Scappa where he was a
mainstay in the Spartan bullpen. Miller is second all time in career Saves and second all-time in
single season Saves while at York. Miller was also voted to the All-Region team during his senior
year at York. Miller played his fifth and final year at Nova Southeastern University under Coach
Laz Gutierrez, throwing a scoreless inning in each of his first four appearances. '
Miller spent two years playing in the Valley League for the Woodstock River Bandits under
coaches Mike Bocock and Charlie Shepard. Under Coach Shepard's guidance as Pitching Coachfor Woodstock, Miller was ranked the #1 Reliever in the Valley League in 2019, Second Team All-Valley in 2019, an All-Star in 2021, #8 Reliever in the Valley League in 2021 and also All-Decade for the Valley League.
After his final year of playing in college, Miller was named the Pitching Coach for the Jupiter Wave
in the Collegiate League of the Palm Beaches in the summer of 2022. Most notably, Miller's
pitching staff had a stretch of 18 scoreless innings. Miller has his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from York College as well as his Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from Nova Southeastern.
ASSISTANT COACH
Brennan Abbott
Brennan Abbott joins the New Market Rebel coaching staff this year as an assistant coach. He was recruited by JMU as a pitcher out of high school and has been a member of the JMU Baseball team for the past 2 ½ years. Due to recent injuries and Tommy John surgery, he decided to give up baseball and get into coaching. Abbott played for the Woodstock River Bandits in 2021 under head coach Shepard and finished the season with a 3.66 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched. At home, Abbott has spent time helping elementary through college players train and develop their game at a sports training facility. He will graduate from JMU in 2024 with a degree in Sport and Recreation Management along with a minor in Business. After graduation, he plans to continue coaching part-time and get a job in sport management or business.
Assistant Pitching Coach
Isaac Wengert
Isaac is joining the New Market Rebel family this year after finishing his collegiate career
at West Virginia Tech. He will be joining the staff as the pitching coach after a successful career
in college where he received all conference honors twice as a starting pitcher. This is Isaac’s
first-time coaching at collegiate level but not first-time coaching college caliber players. At
home in Hershey Pennsylvania, Isaac has trained pitchers and coaches travel baseball for the
last 4 years. He worked at 2 separate sport facilities where he specialized in velocity
development and pitch development for his young athletes. He joins the staff under head coach
Shepard after playing under him in the 2022 season for the Woodstock River Bandits where he
had a successful season with them finishing with a 2.95 ERA. Coach Shepard and Isaac are
looking forward to bringing dominant pitching to the New Market Rebels as Coach Shepard in
his last 3 seasons had the best pitching staff in the league with Isaac being big part of the 2022
season.