Gainesville – The top-ranked team in the baseball Prep Zone Power Poll is beginning to distance itself from the rest of the teams in north central Florida.
Creekside (St. Johns) received all seven first-place votes following a 3-0 week, which included an 8-2 win against No. 2 Clay on the last day of March. The Knights (19-1) remained No. 1 and also moved up five spots to No. 18 in the country in the MaxPreps national rankings.
Despite the loss, the Blue Devils (15-4) moved up one spot from third. Clay (Green Cove Springs) bounced back with consecutive 10-0 wins against Palatka.
Class 8A Spruce Creek (Port Orange) is ranked third. The Hawks (18-2) dropped one spot following a 3-2 loss to Flagler Palm Coast, which snapped a six-game winning streak, but they shut out Seminole (Sanford), 3-0, in their next game.
Following a 3-0 week, Class 5A Hernando (Brooksville) climbed into the top five at No. 4, which is up two spots from sixth. The Leopards (18-2) entered the week with 12 wins in their last 13 games.
Rounding out the top five is Stanton (Jacksonville). The 5A Blue Devils (15-4) defeated previous No. 7 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) twice last week as part of a 3-0 week, dropping the Crusaders (13-6) out of the top 10.
Columbia (Lake City) (13-3) is ranked sixth, followed by Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (16-6), Fleming Island (Orange Park) (14-4), Forest (Ocala) (15-4) and Ponte Vedra (14-6) in the top 10.
Six of the top 10 teams are in Class 5A.
Gainesville dropped out of the top 20, while Belleview (11-5) moved into the rankings for the first time this season. The Rattlers went 2-0 and defeated Forest, 6-5, on Friday.
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.
Prep Zone Power Poll – 2014 Baseball Poll #4
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, overall record through 4/6 and total voting points)
1. Creekside (St. Johns) (7) (5A) (19-1) – 140
2. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (15-4) – 128
3. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (17-4) – 120
4. Hernando (Brooksville) (5A) (18-2)– 118
5. Stanton (Jacksonville) (5A) (15-4) – 113
6. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (13-3) – 100
7. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (16-6)– 96
8. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (14-4) – 93
9. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (15-4) – 89
10. Ponte Vedra (5A) (14-6)– 73
11. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (4A) (12-5) – 70
12. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (13-6) – 62
13. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (13-5) – 53
14. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (12-7) – 46
15. Williston (1A) (15-4) – 42
16. Trenton (1A) (14-3) – 28
17. Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) (2A) (16-1) – 25
18. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (8A) (12-4) – 23
19. DeLand (8A) (12-7) – 14
20T Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (13-7) – 9
20T Belleview (5A) (11-5) – 9
Also receiving votes: Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (14-7) – 8; Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (12-5) – 5; Yulee (4A) (13-4) – 3; Newberry (1A) (14-4) – 2; University Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (13-8) – 1.
