BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Despite back-to-back losing seasons – 8-19 record in 2024 and 7-18 last year – and missing the state playoffs last year for the first time since 2010, the Bloomfield High School baseball team has a very experienced team.
The Bengals have started the majority of underclassmen the past two years and it showed at times, said BHS head coach Mike Policastro, entering his 20th year at the helm.
The senior captains are three-year starters Noah Attas and Sean Sayers and two-year starter and third-year letterwinner Braeden Weber.
The Bengals lost several key graduated players. Among them was captain Kevin Obiedzinski, who was their third-leading hitter (.324 average, 23 hits, 20 stolen bases) and No. 2 pitcher (2-3 record, 3.04 earned run average) from a season ago. Darious Rivas, who was the third baseman and another top pitcher; Luke Miller, Jesse Miller and Phinneas Leard, who were very good teammates, also graduated, Policastro noted.
BHS returns seven starters in the field, but 10 with significant playing time. At times in 2025, the Bengals played three juniors, seven sophomores and two freshmen, who all have varsity experience returning to this year’s squad, Policastro said.
Attas, a senior shortstop/right-handed pitcher, batted .364 last year, leading the team with 25 hits, 12 bases on balls and 12 RBI, and was 2-2 with a 2.38 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched.
Sayers, a senior center fielder/RHP, is an excellent outfielder with a cannon for an arm and is extremely fast, led the team in triples, while pitching very well in a relief role, Policastro said.
Weber, a senior third baseman/RHP, missed most of last season after being hit in the wrist in a pre-season game and fracturing a bone. He returned in late May to play in a few games, but was sorely missed. He is an excellent defender at third base, with a very good arm on the mound and a solid bat in the middle of the lineup, Policastro said.
Brady Cole, junior right fielder/RHP, is a three-year starter. He was the team’s No. 1 pitcher last year (29.2 innings, 22 hits allowed, 29 strikeouts, 1.18 ERA). He also is a very good defensive fielder in right field. Senior Xavier Santos saw limited at-bats in 2 games last year as well.
Jack Menake, a junior second baseman/RHP, is a three-starter. He was off to a tremendous start last year, with four multi-hit games in the first six games. He was batting .464, before pulling a hamstring and missing nine games. He came back and finished batting .333.
Joey Payne, a junior two-year starting catcher, earned the everyday catching job last year. He batted .260 with 13 hits and seven RBI. “He had a few clutch hits for us last year, while playing solid defense behind the plate,” Policastro said.
Miles Jimenez, a two-year starting first baseman/RHP, was the No. 3 pitcher on the team last year (24 innings, 23 strikeouts, 4.08 ERA), and did a great job defensively at first base, Policastro said.
Junior C/designated hitter/utility player Jayden Morales is a three-year letterwinner who was 6 for 34 last season as a DH. He was the team’s backup catcher on varsity as a freshman and will be competing for one of the open spots this year.
Pedro Valdes, a senior two-year letterwinner and third baseman, played solid at third base last year.
Sophomore second baseman/SS/RHP Russ Harris was called up and did a tremendous job defensively at second base last year, after Menake was injured.
Harris batted .250 (7 for 28) and did a nice job pitching in nine innings with a 3.11 ERA, Policastro said.
In his last start, Harris pitched five innings, allowing four earned runs with seven strikeouts against a 21-3 Colonia team ranked No. 17 in state.
Junior RHP/first baseman Conor Ennis pitched 7.1 innings last year and did a nice job for the team as well, Policastro said. Senior RHP/utility player Damyan Ortega pitched four innings last year.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher/outfielder Luke Gallagher had 10 varsity at-bats last year.
Junior 1B/2B/RHP Javier Villaplana started one game last year at second base.
Junior C/OF Anthony Gonzalez played 11 games last year and had seven stolen bases (five at catcher and six in the outfield) but, unfortunately, he is out for the season, after having shoulder surgery in late February.
Additions to the varsity team this year are such seniors as third baseman Xavier Santos, LHP/OF/1B Xavier Cordova and OF James Kaufman.
“This is basically the third season with the same group of players, so we are another year older, wiser, stronger and we know what it takes to succeed,” Policastro said. “We have worked hard all winter to improve and do what was needed to get better. We have a sour taste in our mouth from missing the state tournament last year, losing on the last day of the cutoff, which knocked us out.
“We have 11 pitchers on our staff. We won’t blow your doors off, but we throw strikes and play solid defense. That is what will help us win games. We had two guys hit .300 in 2024, we had three guys hit .300 in 2025. You need more than that to win games in baseball. Like I said, guys put the work in, so now is the time to shine. We have a veteran team, veteran leadership, with solid defense and solid pitching. If we can hit to our capabilities, we can make some noise this year.”
Policastro put together a challenging schedule for his team.
“I am always confident in my teams, regardless of age, experience, etc. That is why I always schedule very good independents,” Policastro said. “They are going to have to earn every win. That’s the way I like it to be. This past off-season, we had a bunch of former Bengals working with our guys, beside coach Mike Carter Sr., who has always run my winter workouts for us. We had a few of my former high school teammates work with our guys. Eric Freid and Walter Lashuk came down and worked with our pitchers. We also had former two-time All-State pitcher James Torres come for two sessions to work with the pitchers as well. We also had 1988 former Bengal great Joe Carter Jr., who was 57 for 100 and batted .570 in 1988, and Marc Sierchio, Class of 1990, who played at Kean University, who worked on the mental approach to hitting with my guys. Having these guys contribute to my off-season program, while I am not allowed to, was huge for our players, especially learning from other guys who played at the next level. Sometimes hearing another voice is exactly what was needed. They came ready to practice on Mondays and Tuesdays. Hopefully, we can continue to work hard and good things will happen.”
The Bengals lost former BHS standout and assistant coach Mike Carter Jr. to the college ranks. “Obviously, Mike is highly respected, not just by me, but by our kids in the program and town. We were able to add coach Danny Marroquin to the staff, who was the former Memorial (West New York) coach for 15 years, which is a tremendous pickup for our program.”
Former BHS standout Liam Penberthy also returns as the other varsity assistant coach.
The Bengals will begin the regular season on March 31 on the road against Barringer in Newark at 4 p.m.
The following is the rest of the schedule:
March 31: at Barringer 4 p.m.
April 2: Barringer, 4 p.m.
April 4: Hoboken, noon.
April 6: at Belleville, 4 p.m.
April 8: Belleville, 4 p.m.
April 11: at Lyndhurst, 11 a.m.
April 13: at Glen Ridge, 4 p.m.
April 15 Glen Ridge, 4 p.m.
April 17: at Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.
April 18: Bayonne, 10 a.m.
April 20: Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.
April 22: St. Benedict’s Prep, 4 p.m.
April 24: Colonia, 4 p.m.
April 30: Hanover Park, 4 p.m.
May 2: at North Bergen, 4 p.m.
May 7: Morris Knolls, 4:15 p.m.
May 9: Union City, 11 a.m.
May 11: Morris Hills, 6 p.m.
May 12: Newark Academy, 4 p.m.
May 14: at Newark Academy, 4 p.m.
May 15: West Orange, 7 p.m.
May 18: Memorial (West New York), 4:30 p.m.
May 19: Lodi, 4 p.m.
May 21: at Montclair Kimberley Academy, 4 p.m.
About the Author
