The 2008 edition of the Bulldogs will take on River Dell, Westwood and Tenafly, all teams that are considered the elite of the BCSL American this season.

So Rutherford will get an idea where they stand within the division after that week.

After Mike Lauterhahn opted to take the William Paterson University head coaching job, Spina, who was coach at Elmwood Park for one year, decided to come back to Rutherford and take the head post. Spina was an assistant coach for Lauterhahn for several years that included winning two group state titles.

"During the summer Mike called me and told me that he was going to William Paterson," said Spina. "It sort of surprised me, but I knew that he always had aspirations of coaching in college."

Lauterhahn had played baseball for four years at William Paterson.

In Rutherford Spina garners a team that was 9-13 last season and missed out on the state tournament. There were several seniors on that team and Spina has a relatively young team compared to past Rutherford teams.

Three players are key to the success of the 2008 season in senior second baseman/shortstop Pat Saracino and junior pitchers Chris Fichtel and Anthony Frisina, both righties.

"They both throw three pitches, fastball, curveball and changeup," said Spina about both starting pitchers. "I can’t say which one is number one or two, both are very good pitchers. During the scrimmage both Anthony and Chris pitched well."

In Saracino they have a quality hitter with speed. "He can hit the ball and beat it out," said Spina who added he can play either short or second. "He’s got great control as a hitter."

While Spina believes his team is very good at pitching and offense he thinks that the key for the season will be the defense. "We have to make the routine play and not give the other teams the extra outs," said Spina. "We have very good pitchers in Chris and Anthony and some strong hitters."

Along with Saracino, Spina believes that junior Frank Isola will break out this season at third base. "He started as a sophomore and missed a lot of time with a broken finger," said Spina who added that Isola is 100 percent healthy.

The likes of Fichtel, Frisina and Isola come from a group of players who were 19-2 when they played on the freshman team in 2006.

While Saracino plays shortstop, senior Craig Sheppard and junior Tom McCallum will see time at second base. Senior Kyle McAuley is expected to start at first base.

With the graduation of Denis Ackermann, behind the dish, junior catcher Zack Loys takes over and saw some time near the end of the 2007 season.

In the outfield senior Ryan Kiczek leads the team at left field as one of the team’s co-captains with Saracino. Senior Sal Biggino is pegged for right field while senior Jimmy McCann and junior Colin Birth are battling for time in center.

The designated hitter slot could be shared between senior Gabby Silva and junior Mike Lazzaro.

While Fichtel and Frisina are the top two pitchers, junior Mike Schneider and McCann are the next top starting pitchers.

One pitcher who is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season is senior Nick Fernandez. Fernandez hurt his knee during the preseason and will need to get back in shape before throwing in a game.

Like the second week of the schedule, the Bulldogs will have to beat out the likes of River Dell, Westwood and Tenafly to win the league title and return to the league prominence.