Bloomfield baseball team has good returning nucleus this season

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield High School baseball team has reason to feel optimistic this season.

The Bengals lost nine players to graduation, but returned several players: senior outfielder/pitcher Jack Lardner, senior pitcher/third baseman Darious Rivas, senior left-handed pitcher/center fielder Kevin Obiedzinski, sophomore second baseman/pitcher Noah Attas, junior

third baseman/pitcher Braeden Weber, sophomore shortstop Sean Sayers and sophomore second baseman/pitcher Jack Menake.

Other players who will contribute are freshman outfielder/infielder/pitcher Brady Cole, freshman catcher/pitcher Jayden Morales, sophomore catcher/pitcher/outfielder Joey Payne, sophomore pitcher/infielder Miles Jimenez, junior second baseman/third baseman Pedro Valdes, sophomore pitcher/first baseman Conor Ennis, sophomore catcher/outfielder/pitcher Anthony Gonzalez, junior pitcher/outfielder Xavier Cordova and junior pitcher/utility Damyan Ortega.

Mike Policastro, entering his 19th year as the Bengals head coach, said, “We are still trying to figure out our identity. We were very young last year, starting eight underclassmen at times after replacing eight senior starters from the 2023 sectional final team. We graduated our top three pitchers from last year. Darious Rivas and Kevin Obiedzinski were at the back end of the rotation last year. They should be at the front this year. 

“We are hoping to fill in behind them with senior Jack Lardner, sophomores Brady Cole, Miles Jimenez, Conor Ennis, Jack Menake and juniors Xavier Cordova, Braeden Weber and Damyan Ortega. We have solid defense and plenty of speed on the basepaths. We need to figure out a way to utilize our speed. Our pitchers will throw strikes, so having a solid defense behind them will be a key strength.

“As always, our goals for the season are to compete for the division title. We dropped to the SEC (Super Essex Conference) Colonial Division this season, with the SEC switching to six-team divisions, instead of seven. Our division is Belleville, Cedar Grove, MKA (Montclair Kimberley Academy), Glen Ridge and Newark Academy. As always, we are playing a strong non-conference slate of games to help us prepare for the GNT (Greater Newark Tournament) and state tournament. 

“Hopefully we will be playing our best baseball when tourney time comes around.”

The team’s coaching staff includes assistant coaches Mike Carter Jr. and Liam Penberthy, junior varsity coach Sean Downey and freshman coaches Allen Wannat and Rob Reboa.

BHS schedule

April 1: at Newark Tech, 4 p.m.

April 3: at Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.

April 4: Hanover Park, 4 p.m.

April 7: Newark Academy, 4 p.m.

April 9: Nutley, 4 p.m.

April 11: at Montclair Kimberley Academy, 4 p.m.

April 12: Bayonne, 10 a.m.

April 15: Payne Tech, 4 p.m.

April 16: at Belleville, 4 p.m.

April 19: Glen Ridge, 10 a.m.

April 21: at Caldwell, 4 p.m.

April 23: Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.

April 25: at Newark Academy, 4 p.m.

April 28: Roxbury, 4 p.m.

May 3: at Hudson Catholic, 1 p.m.

May 5: Montclair Kimberley Academy, 4 p.m.

May 8: at Morris Knolls, 4:30 p.m.

May 10: at Union City, 11 a.m.

May 12: Belleville, 7 p.m.

May 14: at Glen Ridge, 4 p.m.

May 15: at West Orange, 7 p.m.

May 19: at Memorial, 4:30 p.m.

May 21: at Hoboken, 4:30 p.m.

  Bloomfield High School baseball