Gainesville – Bolles (Jacksonville) remains on top of the baseball Prep Zone Power Poll, but the ‘Dogs have some unfriendly company.
Despite a No. 2 seed in this week’s Class 4A-District 4 tournament, the Bulldogs (21-4) edged city-rival Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) for the No. 1 ranking. Bolles, which lost to BK 9-1 in February, has won six in a row, while the Crusaders (20-4) have won 10 in a row.
Top-ranked Bolles edged Bishop Kenny, which moved up one spot to second, in total voting points, 138-135, and collected five of the seven first-place votes – with the Crusaders picking up the other two.
Forest (Ocala) (21-3) begins the 7A-District 1 tournament as the top seed. The Wildcats moved up one spot to third in the poll.
Clay (Green Cove Springs) dropped two spots to fourth. The Blue Devils (18-5) were ranked No. 1 two weeks ago but have lost two of their last four heading into tournament play, including a No. 2 seed in Class 5A-District 5.
Fletcher (Neptune Beach) rounds out the top five. The Senators (22-3) remained fifth after a 2-0 week.
Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (19-3) is ranked sixth, followed by Nease (Ponte Vedra) (18-4), Buchholz (Gainesville) (16-8), North Marion (Citra) (18-7) and Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (15-9).
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, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters.
PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2013 BASEBALL POLL #7
(School, followed by classification, record through April 21, first-place votes and total voting points)
1. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (21-4) (5) – 138
2. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (20-4) (2) – 135
3. Forest (Ocala) (7A) (21-3) – 122
4. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (18-5) – 120
5. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A) (22-3) – 114
6. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (19-3) – 105
7. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (5A) (18-4) – 99
8. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (16-8) – 78
9. North Marion (Citra) (5A) (18-7) – 77
10. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (15-9) – 73
11. Williston (4A) (17-5) – 68
12. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (4A) (19-6) – 66
13. Trenton (1A) (21-1) – 64
14. Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) (6A) (17-8) – 34
15. Hernando (Brooksville) (5A) (18-5) – 27
16T Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (15-10) – 26
16T Eustis (5A) (17-7) – 26
18. South Lake (Groveland) (6A) (18-4) – 25
19. Creekside (St. Johns) (5A) (16-9) – 18
20. Terry Parker (Jacksonville) (5A) (17-8) – 17
Also receiving votes: Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (16-7) – 8; Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) (3A) (15-9) – 7; Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (17-9) – 7; Taylor (Pierson) (1A) (18-5) – 4; St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (3A) (14-3) – 4; Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (13-10) – 3; Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (15-10) – 2; Newberry (1A) (17-7) – 2; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (5A) (13-8) – 1.
