With several pro scouts focusing their radar guns on Nitro pitcher J.R. Bradley, Spring Valley went after him from the first pitch Thursday, which resulted in a Cody Smith single.

But while the Timberwolves took a 1-0 lead, they couldn't do much more at the plate, and the Wildcats roared back to take an 8-2 victory at Brandon Matthew Sneed field.

Bradley, a senior who is receiving a full ride at North Carolina State if a pro offer doesn't fit the bill, scattered five hits and struck out 10, with nary a walk.

The Timberwolves scored that first-inning run when George Brody took the extra base on an attempted double play, and scored in the sixth on an unearned run. Other than that, Bradley was in command.

"What J.R. did and our pitching coach [Dave Sneed] did, they did a good job after seeing them one time through the lineup," said Nitro coach Steve Pritchard. "They did a nice job adjusting. Usually, you hear guys hitting and stuff, making adjustments, but J.R. did a good job making adjustments.

"They came in aggressive, they spread their feet out and swung at a lot pitches early. Really, J.R. threw a first-pitch curveball to a kid, and that got him going and made them guess. They couldn't just sit up on a fastball and swing at it."

Bradley topped out at 91 mph on those radar guns, but his ability to mix in those curveballs kept Spring Valley (2-3) off balance. He stranded just four runners.

"The scouting report, with people watching, I'm in the [strike] zone a lot," Bradley said. "I don't walk a lot of guys, I don't try to. Good teams like Spring Valley and Winfield, who we saw last week, they'll spread out and time that fastball, so I've got to be able to mix my pitches well, and keep them off balance as much as I can.

"[The first-pitch curve], it's a pitch you've got to get it over, and it can really set up a lot of different ways to get a guy out."

With Pritchard back in the dugout after a three-game suspension, Nitro (3-1) failed to repeat its 22-0 explosion the previous day against Capital. But that was OK for the Wildcats, who still had eight generally timely hits and took advantage of two late Spring Valley errors.

With several pro scouts focusing their radar guns on Nitro pitcher J.R. Bradley, Spring Valley went after him from the first pitch Thursday, which resulted in a Cody Smith single.

But while the Timberwolves took a 1-0 lead, they couldn't do much more at the plate, and the Wildcats roared back to take an 8-2 victory at Brandon Matthew Sneed field.

Bradley, a senior who is receiving a full ride at North Carolina State if a pro offer doesn't fit the bill, scattered five hits and struck out 10, with nary a walk.

The Timberwolves scored that first-inning run when George Brody took the extra base on an attempted double play, and scored in the sixth on an unearned run. Other than that, Bradley was in command.

"What J.R. did and our pitching coach [Dave Sneed] did, they did a good job after seeing them one time through the lineup," said Nitro coach Steve Pritchard. "They did a nice job adjusting. Usually, you hear guys hitting and stuff, making adjustments, but J.R. did a good job making adjustments.

"They came in aggressive, they spread their feet out and swung at a lot pitches early. Really, J.R. threw a first-pitch curveball to a kid, and that got him going and made them guess. They couldn't just sit up on a fastball and swing at it."

Bradley topped out at 91 mph on those radar guns, but his ability to mix in those curveballs kept Spring Valley (2-3) off balance. He stranded just four runners.

"The scouting report, with people watching, I'm in the [strike] zone a lot," Bradley said. "I don't walk a lot of guys, I don't try to. Good teams like Spring Valley and Winfield, who we saw last week, they'll spread out and time that fastball, so I've got to be able to mix my pitches well, and keep them off balance as much as I can.

"[The first-pitch curve], it's a pitch you've got to get it over, and it can really set up a lot of different ways to get a guy out."

With Pritchard back in the dugout after a three-game suspension, Nitro (3-1) failed to repeat its 22-0 explosion the previous day against Capital. But that was OK for the Wildcats, who still had eight generally timely hits and took advantage of two late Spring Valley errors.

Tyler Godbey was 2-for-4 with two doubles, the second driving in two runs and breaking a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning. Bradley then stroked a long sacrifice fly to make it 4-1, and Nitro scored three in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Clay Riggleman, batting ninth, went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. The first one, which tied the game in the second, will be as memorable as any Nitro play this season.

Jake Brown belted a high-arcing shot to the base of the center-field fence and chugged into second for a double. Getting his first varsity start of the young season, he can put a fair amount of weight into a swing, but he's not the fleetest of foot.

Two walks loaded the bases with one out when Pritchard really rolled the dice - he called on Riggleman to execute a suicide squeeze.

The third-base line may have shaken with Brown taking off on the pitch, but even a sportswriter could have scored on Riggleman's perfect bunt. Spring Valley starting pitcher Billy Sager seemed a bit baffled when he fielded the ball, but was more flustered when he turned to first and saw nobody covering.

"I mean, it was fun once we scored," said Bradley, who watched from the dugout. "When I saw [Brown] coming down there, I got a little nervous for the catcher."

"It was probably the first time in my nine years of being here we've squeezed with the bases loaded," Pritchard said. "It was a 1-1 count, he just missed with a curveball, and I didn't feel like they wanted to go 2-1 on the No. 9 hitter. He's an excellent bunter, and I felt like a fastball was coming, and Clay could get it down and it's going to be a run."

Pritchard was glad to be in the dugout after the three-game hiatus, but didn't want to offer a comment on accusations that he conducted out-of-season practices, or the penalty.

"None that probably wouldn't get me six games suspended, so probably not, no," he said.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - There were no hits being displayed on the Capital High School baseball scoreboard.

That isn't all that didn't work for the Cougars on Wednesday night.

Nitro pounded out 20 hits and batted around in two innings in a 22-0, five-inning rout on Wednesday night against Capital (3-3) and former Nitro assistant coach Robert Massey.

"These games are fun sometimes, but it can get to the point where we quit trying, some of us lose our heads and get a little off," said senior Andrew Pickering, who had five strikeouts in three innings and finished 4-for-4 with three doubles and five RBI. "We kept it together pretty good today. The coaches stayed on us, I guess because it was against Coach Massey."

It was, undeniably, smooth sailing for the 2008 Class AAA champions and 2009 runners-up.

Even the scoreboard operator quit putting tallying runs after reaching 15. The hits were 20-3 in favor of Nitro (2-1) and Capital committed five errors.

Explaining such a one-sided game between Mountain State Athletic Conference and Kanawha County foes was a practice in futility.

Massey didn't try to do it and Nitro interim Coach Drew McClanahan just chalked it up to one of those nights.

"Everything clicked for us," said McClanahan, filling in for Coach Steve Pritchard, who was suspended three games for coaching out of season. "These games are few and far between. Tonight was that night for us."

It started out innocently enough when Pickering hit the first of his doubles and knocked in the first of his five runs to open the scoring.

Then the floodgates burst. The Wildcats had eight hits and took advantage of three walks, two errors and a wild pitch to score 10 runs in the second.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - There were no hits being displayed on the Capital High School baseball scoreboard.

That isn't all that didn't work for the Cougars on Wednesday night.

Nitro pounded out 20 hits and batted around in two innings in a 22-0, five-inning rout on Wednesday night against Capital (3-3) and former Nitro assistant coach Robert Massey.

"These games are fun sometimes, but it can get to the point where we quit trying, some of us lose our heads and get a little off," said senior Andrew Pickering, who had five strikeouts in three innings and finished 4-for-4 with three doubles and five RBI. "We kept it together pretty good today. The coaches stayed on us, I guess because it was against Coach Massey."

It was, undeniably, smooth sailing for the 2008 Class AAA champions and 2009 runners-up.

Even the scoreboard operator quit putting tallying runs after reaching 15. The hits were 20-3 in favor of Nitro (2-1) and Capital committed five errors.

Explaining such a one-sided game between Mountain State Athletic Conference and Kanawha County foes was a practice in futility.

Massey didn't try to do it and Nitro interim Coach Drew McClanahan just chalked it up to one of those nights.

"Everything clicked for us," said McClanahan, filling in for Coach Steve Pritchard, who was suspended three games for coaching out of season. "These games are few and far between. Tonight was that night for us."

It started out innocently enough when Pickering hit the first of his doubles and knocked in the first of his five runs to open the scoring.

Then the floodgates burst. The Wildcats had eight hits and took advantage of three walks, two errors and a wild pitch to score 10 runs in the second.

Korey Dunbar had two doubles, scored twice and knocked in a run in the second.

All but one Nitro batter had a hit, an RBI or scored a run in the inning.

Capital went to its second pitcher of the inning, which was followed by John Entenmann's two-run single.

In the third, three singles, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly scored runs 12 and 13. Five more hits in the fourth to go with two errors made the lead 18-0. In the fifth, Zach Cloxton hit a three-run homer and Tyler Godbey followed with a solo shot to cap the scoring.

Pickering had a shot at getting five hits in five at-bats, but had to settle for a walk after facing curveball reliever James Morris. The burly cleanup hitter struggled to get solid contact on Morris' off-speed delivery, but it didn't matter.

"I'm seeing the ball really well right now," said Pickering, who hit three home runs in the 2008 State Tournament, but had trouble rebounding from a slow start last season. "I didn't have a great junior year so I'm trying to come out and have a great senior year."

The way he looks at it, the Wildcats are gearing for another championship run after falling short in the finals to Martinsburg last year.

"If me and J.R. (Bradley) throw our best, I think we definitely have another shot at it," Pickering said. "We're eager to come back and be in the state championship."

The Wildcats were certainly a hit on Wednesday.

Even if the scoreboard didn't show it.

Contact Assistant Sports Editor Rich Stevens at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text42426 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 304-348-4837.