The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Friday, April 23, was Kourtney Bryant of the Gainesville softball team.
Bryant, a senior, was 2-for-3, with two runs and a solo home run in her final home game as Gainesville rallied past Williston 6-3 on Friday night.
Williston took the lead with two runs in the top of the first but the Hurricanes answered right back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Gainesville took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd as Bryant singled with one out. Senior Ayanna Woodard followed with a single and junior Parris Wiggs brought in Bryant with an RBI single to give the Hurricanes their first lead at 3-2.
Woodard scored later in the inning on an RBI groundout by Jayla Clark to make it 4-2 Gainesville.
In the bottom of the 4th, Bryant led off for Gainesville and hit her fourth home run of the season over the right field fence off Williston starting pitcher Nevaeh Hayes to make it 5-2.
Gainesville first baseman Addison Joseph led off the fifth inning with a triple and score on a squeeze bunt by Cheyenne Boggs to increase the Hurricanes lead to 6-2.
Williston scored a run in the top of the sixth after Karley Jerrels singled in courtesy runner Bayley Cribbs, running for Raegan Geiger, who led off the inning with a double.
The Red Devils got two runners on base with two outs but Kyra Hornsby came in relief of Gainesville starting pitcher Charlotte Sims and worked out of the inning. Hornsby the last four Williston batters for the save.
Gainesville finishes the regular season 16-6 and will be in action next Tuesday in the District 3-5A tournament at St. Augustine.
Williston finishes at 6-14 and plays at Fort Meade in the District 8-1A semifinals on Wednesday.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
Wednesday, April 21 – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Join Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports. Guests for this episode include P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) baseball coach Rob Brunson and members of the Blue Wave baseball team.
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Tuesday, April 20, was Zane Starling of the Santa Fe (Alachua) baseball team.
Starling tossed a complete-game shutout against North Marion (Citra) in a match-up of top 10 teams in Class 4A. The sophomore only threw 67 pitches in a 5-0 win against the No. 9 Colts.
He only allowed three hits, struck out seven, and didn’t walk anyone.
“Zane Starling was outstanding,” said Santa Fe coach Travis Yeckring, whose team improved to 19-2. “The kid pounded the strike zone, and then we let our defense work. We turned two double plays and had an outfield assist from right field.”
Santa Fe, which is ranked 2nd in 4A by MaxPreps, hosts Chiefland tonight at 7 p.m. in the regular season home finale.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
Clay (Green Cove Springs) takes over top spot in regional rankings as high school baseball regular season heads down the stretch
GAINESVILLE — As the high school baseball season continues to head down the stretch, many good teams continue to move up the rankings of The Prep Zone Power Poll.
And this week, the Clay (Green Cove Springs) Blue Devils find themselves at the top by themselves.
After being tied with Spruce Creek (Port Orange) in the previous poll, Clay (17-3) won six of their eight games over the last few weeks, including a win at #4 Fleming Island (Orange Park), a 14-inning victory at #6 Santa Fe (Alachua) that ended the Raiders’ 14-game winning streak, an 8-3 win over #11 Episcopal (Jacksonville), and a wild come-from-behind 14-11 extra-inning victory at #10 Suwannee (Live Oak).
The only two losses in that stretch were to Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) and #T-13 Creekside (St. Johns).
That was enough to get the Blue Devils, who are ranked #1 in the state in Class 4A by MaxPreps, seven of the eight first-place votes in the latest all-classification regional rankings.
Bolles (Jacksonville) is 2nd.
The Bulldogs (18-3), who are ranked 2nd in Class 3A, earned the other first-place vote this week.
Bolles was 7-1 since the last poll with wins over Episcopal and #16 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) as well as a victory at RV Providence (Jacksonville), with the only loss in that stretch 1-0 at #3 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) on March 26.
Bartram Trail (18-4) follows right behind Bolles at #3 as they were 8-2 in their last 10 games.
As well as the win over Bolles, the Bears also defeated Episcopal, Mandarin, and Creekside since the last poll with their only losses coming to rival Creekside and Providence.
Fleming Island (Orange Park) moved up three spots to 4th.
The Golden Eagles (17-3), ranked No. 3 statewide in 6A by MaxPreps, also were 8-2 since the last ranking with a win over Creekside and then-#5 St. Johns Country Day, with the only setbacks to Clay and #9 Sandalwood (Jacksonville).
Spruce Creek rounds out the top five this week.
The Hawks (17-5) dropped from a tie for first with Clay in the previous poll after losing three games, including to Merritt Island earlier this week. Spruce Creek also lost contests to #7 University (Orange City) and Key West at the Florida High School Invitational in Sanford in late March.
The second five consists of #6 Santa Fe (Alachua), who at 17-2 has won 16 of its last 17 games with the only loss in 14 innings to #1 Clay. The Raiders are ranked #2 in 4A statewide by MaxPreps, right behind the Blue Devils.
University moved up three spots to 7th, with the highlight of the last few weeks a 2-1 win over Spruce Creek.
St. Johns Country Day drops three spots to 8th but stays in the top 10.
The Spartans (15-6), who are ranked 2nd in 2A, lost a game to Fleming Island and a couple of games to state-ranked Sarasota Riverview at the IMG Tournament in early April.
Sandalwood and Suwannee both move up a couple of spots to round out the top 10.
First Coast (Jacksonville), which is 18-2, is the only team to move into the poll this week at #20. The Bucs replace Columbia (Lake City).
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, girls basketball, boys basketball, baseball & softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL POWERED BY ANYTIME FITNESS OF GAINESVILLE – 2021 BASEBALL POLL #3
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, record through 4/14, and total voting points.)
1. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (4A) (7) (17-3) – 159
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (3A) (1) (18-3) – 146
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (18-4) – 134
4. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (17-3) – 128
5. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (17-5) – 127
6. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (17-2) – 123
7. University (Orange City) (7A) (17-3) – 119
8. St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (15-6) – 114
9. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (7A) (17-2) – 96
10. Suwannee (Live Oak) (4A) (16-5) – 82
11. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (15-5) – 68
12. Hernando (Brooksville) (4A) (21-2) – 64
13T. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (13-8) – 63
13T. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (19-1) – 63
15. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (13-5-1) – 41
16. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (12-8) – 39
17. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (13-6) – 24
18. Newberry (1A) (16-1) – 24
19. North Marion (Citra) (4A) (13-5) – 20
20. First Coast (Jacksonville) (6A) (18-2) – 17
Also receiving votes: Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (4A) (18-3) – 11; Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (11-10) – 6; Hamilton County (Jasper) (1A) (13-6) – 3; Lake Minneola (Minneola) (5A) (14-6) – 3; Keystone Heights (3A) (12-10) – 1.
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Thursday, April 15, was Caden Kresak of the Buchholz (Gainesville) baseball team.
The senior threw a no-hitter as the Bobcats cruised to a 12-0 win at rival Gainesville High.
The Lake Sumter State College commit struck out two batters in the bottom of the first inning, en route to a 12 strikeout performance.
“He’s a bulldog and a competitor,” said Buchholz coach Ron Brooks. “He’s been pitching in our program for four years and it was great to see a culmination tonight of a great career at Buchholz. It was fun to be a part of that.”
Buchholz (14-5-1) will host Gainesville (5-16) on Friday night.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
Wednesday, April 14 – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Join Mike Ridaught and Marty Pallman as they talk high school sports. Guests for this episode include Gainesville High baseball coach Chris Malphurs and members of the Hurricanes’ baseball team.
University (Orange City) new unanimous #1 team in regional all-classification softball rankings after winning prestigious Kissimmee Klassic tournament
GAINESVILLE — It had been almost three years since the Trenton Tigers had lost a regular season game.
And it finally took a special pitching performance to give the Tigers a loss, and with that knock them from the top of The Prep Zone Power Poll.
Junior pitcher Madison Lagle of Baker County (Glen St. Mary) struck out 23 Trenton hitters and the 11th-ranked Wildcats knocked off the Tigers 2-0 in 8 innings on April 1, ending Trenton’s 47-game winning streak.
The 2019 1A state champion Tigers (11-1) drop out of the top spot to #2 in this week’s poll.
The new unanimous #1 team is University (Orange City).
The Titans (16-0), who are the only undefeated team remaining in the all-classification regional rankings, won the prestigious Gold Division of the Kissimmee Klassic last weekend, knocking off Osceola (Kissimmee), Robinson (Tampa), Viera, and Canterbury (St. Petersburg) on the way to the tournament title.
University, which is ranked third statewide in 7A according to Max Preps, received all seven first-place votes and moves into the top spot in this poll for the first time in 2021.
Following Trenton and remaining 3rd is Ridgeview (Orange Park).
The Panthers (15-3), ranked #4 in 4A by Max Preps, picked up wins over Baker County and #8 West Nassau (Callahan) over the past few weeks and that was enough to keep them 3rd in the latest rankings.
Oakleaf (Orange Park) drops a spot to 4th.
The Knights (12-5) lost a couple of games at the Kissimmee Klassic to nationally-ranked Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs) and to #5 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville), then dropped a 6-5 decision at #18 Keystone Heights earlier this week.
Trinity Christian (14-4) moves up two spots this week to round out the top five.
The Conquerors won at West Nassau 4-2 on March 16 and beat Oakleaf 12-8 at the Kissimmee Klassic but lost 9-2 to Doral Academy in Kissimmee and lost their final game of the tourney 6-5 to West Nassau.
Trinity Christian remains ranked #1 in 2A by Max Preps.
Eustis (13-1) moves up four spots this week to 6th.
The Panthers have won six in a row since their only loss of the season, 5-4 at Winter Springs on March 11, and are ranked 1st in 4A by Max Preps.
The rest of the second five consists of 7th-ranked Hernando (Brooksville), West Nassau, #9 East Ridge (Clermont), which lost in the Blue Division Championship Game of the Kissimmee Klassic, and finally #10 Gainesville.
Keystone Heights is new to the poll at #18.
The Indians (12-5) knocked off #4 Oakleaf, RV Baldwin, and then-#19 Mandarin (Jacksonville) and have won seven of their last eight games with all five of their loss coming to teams ranked in the power poll.
Also moving in this week is #17 South Lake (Groveland), who is 16-2, and #20 Episcopal (Jacksonville). Dropping out from the previous poll are Baldwin, Mandarin, and Forest (Ocala).
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, basketball, baseball & softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2020 SOFTBALL POLL #3
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 4/6, and total voting points)
1. University (Orange City) (7A) (7) (16-0) – 140
2. Trenton (1A) (11-1) – 124
3. Ridgeview (Orange Park) (4A) (15-3) – 122
4. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (12-5) – 109
5. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (14-4) – 106
6. Eustis (4A) (13-1) – 103
7. Hernando (Brooksville) (4A) (15-1) – 99
8. West Nassau (Callahan) (3A) (13-5) – 97
9. East Ridge (Clermont) (7A) (13-6) – 80
10. Gainesville (5A) (13-3) – 76
11. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (4A) (10-5) – 65
12. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (14-3) – 60
13. Dixie County (Cross City) (1A) (13-1) – 59
14. West Port (Ocala) (7A) (16-2) – 51
15. Taylor (Pierson) (3A) (14-1) – 36
16. Belleview (4A) (13-6) – 32
17. South Lake (Groveland) (6A) (16-2) – 30
18. Keystone Heights (3A) (12-5) – 27
19. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (4A) (12-6) – 23
20. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (11-4) – 13
Also receiving votes: Baldwin (3A) (12-4) – 7; Lecanto (5A) (11-4) – 3; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (12-6) – 2; Fort White (1A) (11-3) – 2; Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) (2A) (10-2) – 2; Paxon (Jacksonville) (4A)) (9-4) – 1; Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) (5A) (12-2) – 1.
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Friday, April 23, was Kourtney Bryant of the Gainesville softball team.
