Nitro's J.R. Bradley is the Class AAA first-team all-state captain.

The legacy of baseball success left to future Nitro High School players by graduates J.R. Bradley and Andrew Pickering is nearly insurmountable.

The four-year starters, who on June 5 led the team to its second Class AAA state championship in three seasons, finished their high school careers with a record of 120-24, going 96-13 in the last three seasons.

"It's really a career group," Nitro coach Steve Pritchard said of the batch of players the program has produced dating to all-state utility player Jake Kight in 2007, continuing with Major League Baseball draft picks Chase Pickering (2008) and Matt Frazer (2009) and culminating with the 2010 state title.

"They've accomplished things that have never been accomplished before at Nitro High School,'' Pritchard said. "I can't say that we'll not be good in the future, but nothing will ever be like this again.''

The Arizona Diamondbacks took Bradley, who gave Nitro its third pro prospect in as many seasons, in the second round of the June 7-9 draft. He was the 56th player selected overall. He went 13-0 with 109 strikeouts and a 0.61 ERA as a senior, and was a natural pick as the first-team captain of the Class AAA all-state team by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

Unlike his former teammates who were drafted in later rounds, Bradley opted to turn pro, and has since joined the Missoula Ospreys of the advanced rookie Pioneer League. He had previously signed a letter of intent to play college baseball at North Carolina State.

Pickering, a second-team selection as a junior, was listed as a first-team utility player. Bradley was named one of three first-team pitchers, along with Bridgeport senior left-hander Harrison Musgrave and Hurricane junior lefty Sam Kmiec.

"You see a lot of college teams - West Virginia, Marshall, all kinds of teams - that don't produce three Major League picks,'' Bradley said. "To look back at that 2008 team and realize we had three right there is amazing to me. I don't know if I'll ever see a high school team that was that good.''

Bradley's 2010 squad was no slouch, setting a school single-season record for victories with its 33-4 mark. The 6-foot-4 right-hander did more than pull his own weight with the bat, connecting for a state-leading 13 home runs. He hit .483 with 15 doubles and 52 RBIs, and served as the Wildcats' shortstop when not on the mound.

Pickering hit .424 with three homers, nine doubles and 30 RBIs. He was 9-0 pitching with 78 strikeouts and a 1.94 ERA. He will continue his baseball career at West Virginia State.

For all Nitro's success, it did not win the Mountain State Athletic Conference baseball championship in 2010. That honor went to Cabell Midland, which beat Nitro 13-3 in a game in which Pritchard used reserve pitchers lest the teams meet again in Region 4 play. They did, and Bradley struck out 14 in a 7-1 Nitro win.

The Knights equaled Nitro, state runner-up Bridgeport, Elkins, Hurricane and Martinsburg by landing two players on the first team. Midland senior Drew Porter was listed as an infielder and junior Caleb Ross as an outfielder.

Porter hit .394 with four homers and 37 RBIs while adding 12 doubles and a .419 average with runners in scoring position. Ross' best attribute was perhaps his pitching - he was 9-1 with a 2.33 ERA - but he also hit five homers and drove in 22.

Musgrave, like Bradley, was a repeat first-team selection. The West Virginia University-bound pitcher was 7-4 with 112 strikeouts in 571/3 innings, giving up just 16 runs and throwing six complete games. He hit .455 with four homers and 45 RBIs.

Musgrave fanned 15 batters in a 5-0 win against Fairmont Senior in a Class AAA state tournament semifinal.

"When he gets on, there's no stopping him,'' Bridgeport coach Robert Shields said of his ace, who was a Class A all-state pick in 2008 while attending Notre Dame. "The thing that was important for us this year is that Harrison really focused on becoming a leader, and you see that with him a lot now.''

Kmiec joined the Hurricane program after moving to West Virginia from Delaware when his father began teaching at Marshall University. Commanding a curveball with impressive control and placement, Kmiec was 7-3 with 82 strikeouts and a 1.83 ERA in 63 innings.

Hurricane senior shortstop Noah Blackhurst led first-team players with a .573 batting average, adding 17 doubles, five homers and 41 RBIs to his stat line. Like Pickering, Blackhurst will play at West Virginia State.

Fairmont Senior junior Andrew Marra, Martinsburg junior Zach Stolipher (.439, 10 HRs, 37 RBIs) and Wheeling Park senior Corey Walter filled out the first-team infield.

The outfield was completed by Bridgeport senior Jeremy Hodge (.519, 22 RBIs) and Elkins senior Lance Vannoy (.553, 11 HRs, 42 RBIs).

Senior Zach Woolcock (.404, seven HRs, 30 RBIs) of Martinsburg, senior Maverick Myers (.545, seven HRs, 32 RBIs, 4-1, 56 strikeouts) of North Marion and Spencer Webley (.520, 12 HRs, 44 RBIs) of Elkins were named as utility players.

Brooke sophomore Nick Breen was named the first-team catcher after hitting .476 with eight homers, 15 doubles, four triples and 40 RBIs.

Bridgeport senior infielder Tommie Brunswick was named second-team captain.