The Lady Golden Griffins were doing okay throughout the start of the 2007 season, but the season fell apart when pitcher Jill DeMarco suffered a season-ending injury with eight games remaining in the season.

After that Queen of Peace had a hard time keeping up with the opposition with various pitchers thrown into the circle.

The Lady Golden Griffins finished with a 4-18 record in 2007, but DeMarco is back along with senior center-fielder Alyse Muraglia, a first-team All BCSL American and Queen of Peace’s best hitter.

For the 2008 season, DeMarco is healthy and ready to go. "She’s back and in the swing of things," said Queen of Peace head coach Sue Murden. "She has been working hard over the summer to get ready for the spring."

Murden said that the team learned a lot from last season’s team and will us those lessons for this season.

Also back this season and leading the outfield is senior left-fielder Karyn Bishof while the infield is led by junior Lauren Petrucelli, who was second team All American and senior second baseman Krystal Thomson.

Muraglia and Petrucelli are the squad’s best returning sluggers. "They are our most consistent players," said Murden. "Lauren can hit for the long ball and Alyse is a very consistent hitter."

Also players who saw some time that are back include junior Jessica Speers, who saw some starting time in the last half of the season as an infielder.

Senior Stephanie Tedeschi returns and will be a utility player and an outfielder. Another player expected to see playing time is junior Brielle Melillo who is an outfielder.

One of the top newcomers this season is Michelle Mattia, who is a freshman and should be strong at first base. She is an up-and-coming player for the Lady Golden Griffins and the rest of the BCSL American.

In terms of the BCSL American, the best teams are Rutherford, River Dell and Tenafly. The Golden Griffins found out how good Rutherford is in the season opener as they fell Rutherford 8-0 to the Bulldogs. Queen of Peace could not figure out Rutherford senior pitcher Veronica McGorry who threw a three-hitter.

Jill DeMarco took the loss for Queen of Peace in the opener. The difference was the fourth inning when Rutherford scored seven times.

The Lady Golden Griffins will get a chance to improve on the opener on Wednesday when they host another American favorite, River Dell.