2026 Shore Sports Insider Softball Coach of the Year: Michael Palmieri, Barnegat

It was a historic season for the Barnegat softball program. The Bengals won 24 games, captured a division title, claimed their first sectional championship, and advanced to the first NJSIAA state championship game in program history. Their success was years in the making, driven by a core group of seniors who experienced both highs and lows as freshmen before embracing the standards and vision established by the coaching staff and helping deliver the greatest season in program history during their senior year.

The architect behind Barnegat’s direction, culture, and success is head coach Michael Palmieri. Alongside his coaching staff, Palmieri guided the Bengals to the most successful season in school history, highlighted by the South Jersey Group 2 championship. For his leadership and accomplishments, Palmieri has been named the 2026 Shore Sports Insider Softball Coach of the Year.

“At the beginning of each season, we set goals,” senior shortstop Riley Schmidt said. “Those goals give us a good mindset and purpose for the season. It helps players understand that we are a team and we have these shared goals. In a season like we had, it really motivated us to keep checking off goals as the season went on.”

Barnegat opened the season with 14 consecutive victories, including a perfect 10-0 record in the Independence Division to secure the division championship. The Bengals suffered their first loss in the Ocean County Tournament semifinals against Southern. Their next defeat would not come until a matchup with Donovan Catholic, the Shore Conference’s No. 2-ranked team, in the Shore Conference Tournament.

A team’s character is often defined by how it responds to adversity. Barnegat faced a heartbreaking setback against Donovan Catholic in the SCT quarterfinals. The Bengals held the Griffins to just one hit through five innings, but Donovan Catholic’s second and only other hit of the game was a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that proved to be the difference in a 3-1 loss.

The response was immediate.

In the opening round of the South Jersey Group 2 Tournament, Barnegat erupted for 14 runs while throwing a no-hitter, sending a clear message that it was ready for a postseason run. The dominant victory marked the start of a sectional championship journey that culminated in the program’s first-ever sectional title.

“We knew we played hard in that game,” senior catcher Jadeyn Bodziak said. “We knew we scared Donovan. His advice was to win the title, and we fast-forward our checklist to states. At the start of the playoffs, his message was to win. Show the people who predicted we would lose what we were made of. We wanted to keep going.”

For years, Palmieri emphasized the importance of putting the team first. It became a cornerstone of the culture he instilled in his players, particularly the senior leaders who were freshmen on a team that finished 9-13. The buy-in from players such as Bodziak, Schmidt, Brianna Dato, and Eva Watts helped establish the foundation that would eventually elevate Barnegat into one of the state’s top programs.

“Coach Palmieri is big on teamwork,” Schmidt said. “He really focuses on a team-first mentality. We win as a team, we lose as a team, we celebrate as a team, and it’s really a group effort rather than it being about individual stats.”

One of the greatest challenges for any coach is keeping players focused throughout a long season. High school athletes balance academics, athletics, family commitments, and social lives, making distractions inevitable. The most successful teams are often those that maintain their focus despite those outside pressures.

Barnegat did exactly that during its run to the Group 2 state final. The Bengals allowed just one run throughout the South Jersey Group 2 Tournament, with that lone run coming in a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Gloucester in the sectional championship game.

“Coach always goes back to his goal setting,” Schmidt said. “We focus on the game we are in, staying in the present and not getting ahead of ourselves or worrying about the past. He really promotes team unity throughout the season, so as players we learned to support one another and focus on a positive environment and not having drama.”

Every team experiences peaks and valleys over the course of a season. How a coach manages those moments can have a significant impact on both individual players and the team as a whole. Palmieri consistently demonstrated confidence in his players, rarely making changes to the lineup from opening day through the state championship game.

“I am a great example of that [a player slumping],” Schmidt said. “I have been the leadoff hitter since midway through my freshman year. I had a few games this year where I didn’t feel I was performing and doing what I needed to do for my team as a lead-off hitter. Instead of dropping me in the lineup, he let me work through it. Knowing that Coach Palmieri believed in me gave me what I needed to refocus and get back on the right track.”

The 2026 season will forever be remembered as a breakthrough year for Barnegat softball, and Palmieri’s leadership played a central role in making it happen. With a strong foundation in place and a talented core returning, Palmieri and his staff will look to the program’s next group of senior leaders to uphold the culture they have built while pursuing another sectional championship.