TEAM RECORDS

Pos-Team    W-L-T    Pct.

1. Nitro    25-4-0    .862

2. Hurricane    21-9-0    .700

3. Buffalo    20-9-0    .690

3. South Charleston    20-9-0    .690

5. Geo. Washington    21-10-0    .677

5. Sissonville    21-10-0    .677

7. Herbert Hoover    18-9-0    .667

7. St. Albans    20-10-0    .667

9. Charleston Cath.    20-11-0    .645

10. Capital    15-14-0    .517

11. Winfield    14-17-0    .452

12. Poca    11-14-1    .442

13. Riverside    12-17-0    .414

HITTING

BATTING AVERAGE

(Minimum of 21 hits)

Player, School    AB    H    Avg.

Noah Blackhurst, Hurr.    99    56    .566

Jamie Hurd, Hoover    91    49    .538

Jason Lewis, Buffalo    56    29    .518

J.R. Bradley, Nitro    90    46    .511

Patrick Ryan, Hoover    89    45    .506

Steven Lewis, Capital    78    39    .500

Tyler Godbey, Nitro    85    42    .494

Pat Lively, S. Chas.    91    44    .483

Bo McKown, Catholic    109    52    .477

J.C. Morrison, Capital    76    36    .474

Andrew Pickering, Nit.    81    37    .457

Josh Hudson, S. Chas.    92    42    .456

Tyler Payne, Hurricane    93    42    .452

Sammy McCoy, SA    82    37    .451

Sam Wood, Catholic    76    34    .447

Alex Levitan, GW    104    46    .442

David Beaver, Poca    82    36    .439

Zach Cloxton, Nitro    96    42    .438

Korey Dunbar, Nitro    85    37    .435

Eric Stone, Capital    83    36    .434

Cory Bird, Hoover    80    34    .425

Daryl Deliere, HH    87    37    .425

Chris Knapp, River.    97    41    .423

Kirby Patterson, GW    97    41    .423

Alex Bobinger, CC    83    35    .422

Tyler Ratliff, Riverside    88    37    .421

Cody Hobbs, Riverside    92    38    .413

Clay Riggleman, Nitro    74    30    .405

Jared Tucker, Buffalo    73    29    .397

Josh Clark, Winfield    101    40    .396

Brody Prudnick, CC    74    29    .391

Derek May, GW    77    30    .390

Regan Patton, GW    100    39    .390

Andy Hapney, SA    96    37    .385

Derek Ryder, Hoover    78    30    .385

Cody Ballard, Capital    94    36    .383

Josh Burdette, SC    94    36    .382

Derek Tate, Sissonville    98    37    .378

Josh Kiser, St. Albans    90    34    .377

Geovany Miranda, Cap.    69    26    .377

Barrett Arnold, Winfield    93    35    .376

Tyler Fisher, S. Chas.    72    27    .375

Tyler Burdette, Sisson.    89    33    .371

Nick Harrison, River.    81    30    .370

Nelson McKown, CC    84    31    .369

Evan Woods, Capital    80    29    .363

Kenny Harper, Sisson.    95    34    .358

Brandon Davis, HH    71    25    .352

Dylan Ramsey, SA    103    36    .350

HOME RUNS

10 - J.R. Bradley, Nitro; 7 - Jason Lewis, Buffalo; Wade Walters, St. Albans; Sam Wood, Catholic; 5 - Noah Blackhurst, Hurricane; Josh Hudson, SC; Sam Kmiec, Hurricane; Patrick Ryan, Hoover; 4 - Josh Clark, Winfield; Korey Dunbar, Nitro; Jamie Hurd, Hoover; Sammy McCoy, St. Albans; Geovany Mirdana, Capital; Kirby Patterson, GW; Regan Patton, GW; Gabe White, Hoover

RUNS BATTED IN

50 - Jason Lewis, Buffalo; 46 - J.R. Bradley, Nitro; 44 - Patrick Ryan, Hoover; 43 - Wade Walters, St. Albans; 42 - Sam Kmiec, Hurricane; 37 - Noah Blackhurst, Hurricane; 35 - Korey Dunbar, Nitro; Sam Wood, Catholic; 34 - Josh Hudson, SC; Sammy McCoy, St. Albans; 33 - Kirby Patterson, GW; 32 - Patrick Huxley, Catholic; Regan Patton, GW; 31 - Tyler Payne, Hurricane; 29 - Jamie Hurd, Hoover; Greg Wright, SC; 28 - Josh Clark, Winfield; Pat Lively, SC; J.C. Morrison, Capital; Eric Stone, Capital

STOLEN BASES

41 - Bo McKown, Catholic; 37 - Tyler Burdette, Sissonville; 29 - J.C. Morrison, Capital; 28 - Jason Lewis, Buffalo; 27 - Evan Woods, Capital; 23 - Kenny Harper, Sissonville; 22 - Steven Lewis, Capital; 21 - Zach Cloxton, Nitro; 18 - Brad Carpenter, Sissonville; 17 - Tyler Godbey, Nitro; Tyler McClaskie, Capital; 15 - Barrett Arnold, Winfield; Colin Davis, Hurricane; Taylor Farris, Catholic; Alex Levitan, GW; Clay Riggleman, Nitro; Patrick Ryan, Hoover; 13 - Chris Knapp, Riverside

PITCHING

WINS

8-2 - Jason Lewis, Buffalo; 8-5 - Jameson Landers, Sissonville; 7-0 - J.R. Bradley, Nitro; Derek May, GW; Andrew Pickering, Nitro; 7-1 - Kyle Huffman, GW; 6-1 - Clay Riggleman, Nitro; 6-2 - Patrick Huxley, Catholic; 6-3 - Cody Ballard, Capital; 6-5 - Andy Hapney, St. Albans; 5-0 - Calvin Bench, St. Albans; 5-1 - Patrick Ryan, Hoover; 5-2 - Thad Carpenter, Capital; Chad Wright, Winfield; 5-3 - Sam Kmiec, Hurricane; 5-6 - Joe Mounts, GW

STRIKEOUTS

122 - Jason Lewis, Buffalo (562/3 innings pitched); 87 - Patrick Ryan, Hoover (45 IP); 86 - Jameson Landers, Sissonville (802/3 IP); 70 - Jamie Hurd, Hoover (51 IP); 66 - J.R. Bradley, Nitro (43 IP); 62 - Sam Kmiec, Hurricane (48 IP); 61 - Andrew Pickering, Nitro (381/3 IP); Clay Riggleman, Nitro (431/3 IP); 59 - Sam Wood, Catholic (42 IP); 55 - Joe Mounts, GW (501/3 IP); 54 - Taylor Humphrey, Poca (42 IP); 53 - Cody Ballard, Capital (532/3 IP); 52 - Derek May, GW (591/3 IP); 51 - Thad Carpenter, Capital (521/3 IP); 50 - Calvin Bench, St. Albans (471/3 IP); Alex Bobinger, Catholic (322/3 IP); Andy Hapney, St. Albans (491/3 IP); 48 - Tyler Burdette, Sissonville (431/3 IP)

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

(Minimum of 25 innings pitched)

0.33 - J.R. Bradley, Nitro (43 IP); 0.72 - Jason Lewis, Buffalo, Buffalo (562/3 IP); 0.91 - Andrew Pickering, Nitro (381/3 IP); 1.33 - Sam Wood, Catholic (42 IP); 1.45 - Clay Riggleman, Nitro (431/3 IP); 1.94 - Tyler Burdette, Sissonville (431/3 IP); 2.04 - Sam Kmiec, Hurricane (48 IP); 2.14 - Alex Bobinger, Catholic (322/3 IP); 2.34 - Jameson Landers, Sissonville (802/3 IP); 2.36 - Joe Mounts, GW (501/3 IP); 2.41 - Drew Lawrence, Hurricane (29 IP); 2.67 - Ryan Baldwin, Sissonville (42 IP); 3.00 - Patrick Ryan, Hoover (45 IP)

NOTE: Includes only players from Kanawha and Putnam counties. Figures provided by schools. Does not include Monday's games. Does not include complete report from South Charleston.

Annual showdown between Wildcats, Red Dragons one of many intriguing sectional draws

A couple weeks ago, it looked like the luster had wiped clean off the Nitro-St. Albans baseball sectional.

Always one of the most competitive first-round postseason matchups, the Region 4 Section 1 rivalry looked a bit one-sided at that point. Nitro was in the process of winning 18 straight games and SA was scuffling around, barely over the .500 mark.

But then it happened. The Red Dragons got their signature win, edging the top-ranked Wildcats 9-8 on April 20, which seemed to elevate their play down the stretch of the regular season.

So when Nitro (25-4) and St. Albans (19-9) lock up in their annual best-of-three showdown starting Tuesday night at SA, look for another interesting series.

"I think we're quietly having a pretty good season,'' said SA coach Rick Whitman.

The Red Dragons have relied on the hitting of Tyler Hart (.421), Andy Hapney (.402), Sammy McCoy (.394) and Wade Walters (.368).

Nitro, which has played in the last three state tournaments, is 88-13 over the past three seasons with a senior-dominated lineup. The Wildcats are the No. 2 team in the Gazette's Class AAA state rankings.

Leading the way at the plate have been J.R. Bradley (.523), the injured Tyler Godbey (.494), Andrew Pickering (.455) and Zach Cloxton (.436).

Wildcats coach Steve Pritchard has certainly noticed the way St. Albans closed out the regular season.

"They are playing a lot better,'' Pritchard said. "I think if you'll look at it, the injury bug hit them earlier in the year and now they're getting healthy. The injuries kind of hit us at the end of the year, and we're kind of limping into things. I think it's maybe check the boxscore and see who's playing and who's not playing. It's kind of role reversal for the two teams.''

Postseason play begins for several Kanawha Valley teams on Monday. Here's a capsule look at the other matchups:

Class AAA

Logan vs. South Charleston vs. George Washington: Region 3 Section 3 begins Monday with the Wildcats (16-9) playing at SC (20-9) at 6:30 p.m., then GW (21-10) travels to Logan the next day.

The Wildcats won single games against each of the other two teams, while the Black Eagles and Patriots split a pair of regular-season games.

Riverside at Capital: The best-of-three Region 3 Section 4 series begins Wednesday, with all games at Capital (15-14). The Cougars won both regular-season meetings with the Warriors (12-17) by scores of 9-6 and 6-5.

Right after winning eight in a row, Riverside has lost its last seven games.

Hurricane vs. Lincoln County vs. Winfield: Region 4 Section 3 begins Monday with Lincoln County (1-22) traveling to Winfield (13-17), where all games in this event will be held.

The Generals won both times the teams met so far, 7-1 and 11-0. Hurricane (21-9) is 2-0 against both Winfield and the Panthers.

Class AA

Herbert Hoover vs. Clay vs. Sissonville: All three teams have decent records in Region 4 Section 1, which begins Monday with the Huskies (17-9) tackling the host Panthers (17-10).

Sissonville (21-10), which is ranked No. 2 in AA after spending much of the season in the top spot, plays the winner of that game Tuesday, with all games at Clay County

Indians coach John Brown pointed to his team's challenging schedule as reason for being prepared for the postseason.

"Things have been going good for us,'' he said. "We ran off 17 out of 18 against good competition. We played all the good teams in double-A. We didn't have to. We wanted a lot of away games at the end of the season - Hurricane, Nitro - just because all our [postseason] games will be on the road. We're happy where we're at.''

Poca at Sherman: The best-of-three in Region 4 Section 2 begins Monday in Seth.

The Dots (11-14-1) have mercy-ruled the Tide in each of the teams' two meetings, 19-9 and 15-5, but Poca has dropped eight of its last nine.

Class A

Buffalo vs. Wahama vs. Hannan: All games in Region 4 Section 1 will be played at Buffalo beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday with No. 7 Wahama (20-4) against the Wildcats (4-8). No. 6 Buffalo (20-9) meets the winner Wednesday.

Wahama and Buffalo have played once so far, with the Bison winning 5-2 on April 15 behind ace left-hander Jason Lewis (four-hitter, 11 strikeouts).

Charleston Catholic vs. Van vs. St. Joseph: All games in Region 4 Section 2 are set for Epling Field in East Bank.

The favored No. 9 Irish (20-11) face Van (7-16) at 6 p.m. Monday. Catholic won both meetings so far 16-1, 17-1. Catholic then plays St. Joseph on Tuesday. Van downed St. Joseph 24-10 on April 16.

Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .