What can Nitro do for an encore after its romp through last year's McDonald's Powerhouse Invitational in Glenville?

The Wildcats are about to find out, as they make the trip up Interstate 79 for a second straight year this weekend to compete in the baseball event at the Sue Morris Sports Complex.

Some of the West Virginia's top baseball and softball teams get to see how they stack up this weekend - three of the four baseball teams are included in the Gazette's state baseball rankings and two of the 15 softball teams are listed in the coaches ratings.

Nitro (18-2), the top-ranked team in Class AAA, will play two games Friday - against No. 10 Bridgeport (7-4) at 5 p.m. and against AA No. 8 Lincoln (7-6) at 9. On Saturday, the Wildcats play Fairmont Senior (11-6) at 11 a.m.

Last year, Nitro was the unofficial winner of the showcase event in baseball, sweeping all three of its games against state-ranked teams, and all came by shutout.

This year, the hitting has been impressive for the Wildcats. During their 18-game winning streak, which was halted by Tuesday's loss at St. Albans, they scored 10 or more runs 13 times.

Six Nitro players were batting .436 or better entering the week - Tyler Godbey (.557), J.R. Bradley (.547), Zach Cloxton (.491), Andrew Pickering (.469), Korey Dunbar (.460) and Clay Riggleman (.436).

"We've been putting the ball in play,'' said Nitro coach Steve Pritchard. "We've been hitting one through nine as a team.

"Last year, it was Matt Frazer and maybe one or two other guys who would be hitting. This year, everybody's getting off right now, and it's pretty fun. I've been getting out the same lineup sheet and putting it on the copy machine and I just keep copying it and copying it. We've been going with the same guys.''

No Kanawha Valley teams are scheduled to compete in this weekend's softball event, but Class AAA No. 6 East Fairmont and AA No. 1 Ritchie County will be there to head the field.

Games in the softball event start at 4 p.m. Friday at both Shelley's Field and Doug's Field at the Sue Morris Sports Complex. On Saturday, softball games begin at 10 a.m.

All-day admission on either day is $5 per person, and fans can switch fields to watch baseball and softball.

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 .

HIGH SCHOOL

McDonald's Powerhouse Tournament

At Sue Morris Sports Complex, Glenville

Friday's games

5 p.m. - Nitro vs. Bridgeport

7 - Bridgeport vs. Fairmont Senior

9 - Nitro vs. Lincoln

Saturday's schedule

11 a.m. - Nitro vs. Fairmont Senior

1 p.m. - Lincoln vs. Fairmont Senior

Wednesday's boxscores

Chas. Catholic 110 142 2 -11 13 2

Valley 002 625 x -15 16 2

Bobinger, B. McKown (5) and Cable. Chaffins and Sears. Top hitters - CC: B. McKown double; Bobinger double, RBI; Wood HR, 2 RBI; Huxley double, 2 RBI; N. McKown 2-3; Hovorka 3-4, double, 3 RBI; Hoyer 2-2, RBI. V: R. Belmont 3-5, double, triple, HR, 5 RBI; C. Belmont 2 RBI; Ganoe 3-5 triple, RBI; Accord double, RBI; Talley 3-4, double, hr, RBI; Easterling 2-3 double, RBI.

Greenbrier East 000 000 0 -0 3 3

Nitro 000 112 x -4 8 1

Austin and King. Riggleman and Dunbar. Top hitters - GE: Ramsey double. N: Cloxton 2-3; Bradley double; Pickering double; Dunbar 2-3.

Winfield 200 000 1 -3 7 2

Riverside 600 310 x -10 10 1

M. Wright, Dillon (1), Wade (6), and Gunter. Hobbs and Ratliff. Top hitters - W: Arnold triple; Kincaid 2-4; Clark 2-4; M. Wright double. R: Hobbs 3-4, double, 2 RBI; Ratliff 2 RBI; Harrison 2-3, double; Hall 3-run HR.

Brighton, N.Y. 020 210 0 -5 8 0

Sissonville 202 041 x -9 15 0

Straten and Jordan. Burdette, Baldwin (6), and Derrick. Top hitters - B: Graff double; Laurie HR; Burke double; Bell 2-4, double; Jordan 2-3, 3 RBI. S: Morgan triple; Burdette 3-4, 2 doubles; Derrick double; Tate 2-2, 2 RBI; Slater double, 2 RBI, Chevalier 4-4, double, 3 RBI; Carpenter 3-3, triple.

Hurricane 021 000 1 -4 8 0

George Wash. 000 000 0 -0 2 2

Kmiec and Payne; Mounts and Levitan; Top hitters - Hurricane: Davis 3-4, 2 RBIs; Blackhurst 2-4, double, RBI

St. Albans 000 00  -0 1 4

Cabell Midland 931 0x  -13 13 0

Glenn, Matthews (1), Allen (4) and McCoy; Mason and Doss, MacCourtney (3); Top hitters - Midland: Anderson 2-2, triple, 4 RBIs; Weed double, RBI; Ross 2-3; Doss 2-2, 2 RBIs; Porter 2 RBIs; Mason 2-3, RBI

Wahama 204 000 0 -6 6 2

Man 030 000 0 -3 8 2

Bond and McGrew. Craddock, Riggins (4) and Vance. Top hitters - W: Roush HR; McGrew HR, 3 RBI; Bond 2-3, double, 2 RBI.

Ripley 301 103 1 -9 13 2

Huntington 100 200 0 -3 5 2

Taylor, Mahan (7), and Scaggs. Fisher, Spurlock (6), and Roberts. Top hitters - R: K. Mullins 3-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI; N. Barnette 2-4, 2 RBI; Swisher 2-4; D. Mullins 2-4; Shamblin double; Jones double. H: Brunetti 2-3, 2 doubles.

Chapmanville 105 001 10 -8 10 5

Wayne 600 000 21 -9 9 2

Johnson and Kirk; Kitts, Cole (3) and White. Top hitters - Chap: Cox 3-5, double;  Kirk 2-3, double, 2 RBIs; Banks 2-4, HR, double, 2 RBIs; Johnson 2-4, 2 doubles; Wayne: White 3-5, 2 RBIs; Mills 2-4; Chinn 2-4

S. Charleston 300 100 0 -4 7 1

Capital 000 020 0 -2 6 1

Smith and Burdette. Ballard, McClaskie (4) and Morrison. Top hitters - SC: Lively 2-4; Wright 2-4; Pauley double. Capital: Ballard 2-4, double; Morrison 2-3, double