Gainesville – Creekside (St. Johns) took home the District 4-6A title last week, and that allowed the Knights to become the unanimous number one team in the latest baseball Prep Zone Power Poll, as the high school season heads to the regional playoffs this week.
Creekside (23-4) defeated St. Augustine 10-0 in the district semifinals before slipping by rival then-#18 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 2-1 in the championship game. The Knights, a 5A state semifinalist a year ago, will open up regional play in 6A at home Thursday night against Englewood (Jacksonville).
Clay (Green Cove Springs) moved up four spots to #2 this week after winning the 5A-4 district tourney. The Blue Devils (19-7) knocked off then-#5 Ponte Vedra 11-7 in the district championship. The Blue Devils will have a tough 5A regional quarterfinal against Baker County (Glen St. Mary) on Wednesday night in Green Cove Springs. Baker County (20-7) fell from second to fourth after losing to then-#11 Stanton (Jacksonville) 4-3 in the District 3-5A final. Hernando (Brooksville) moved up five spots to #3 after rolling past Pasco (Dade City) 16-6 to win the 5A-7 district tournament. Hernando (23-4) will open up in the 5A regional playoffs Wednesday night against Sunlake (Land O’Lakes). Following Baker County and rounding out the top five is Providence (Jacksonville). The Stallions (19-7) rolled to another district title, getting past Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) 7-6 to win the 3A-4 tourney.
Stanton (19-6) leads off the second five, moving up five spots from last week to #6 after the win over then-#2 Baker County. Stanton opens with one of the top first round games in the area as they host defending 5A state champion #8 Ponte Vedra Wednesday night in the regional quarterfinals. Next up is Fleming Island, who squeaked by Buchholz (Gainesville) 2-1 to win in District 3-7A. Fleming Island (18-6) opens up in the 7A regional quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon against Oviedo. Following Ponte Vedra (19-8) is Williston at #9. The Red Devils (21-4) shut out Chiefland and Union County (Lake Butler) to win the District 7-1A tournament and move up three spots into the top ten for the first time in 2014. Mandarin (Jacksonville) rounds out the top ten after knocking off then-#12 Sandalwood (Jacksonville) 10-6 to capture the 8A-1 district crown.
Defending 1A state champion Trenton (20-3) leads off the second ten after blasting Hilliard and Bronson by a combined score of 17-2 to win another District 6-1A tourney title. The biggest move up in the second ten this week belongs to Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) who moved up six spots from 20th to 14th after rolling to the 2A-3 district title, knocking off Peniel Baptist (Palatka) and St. John Lutheran (Ocala) by a combined score of 24-1.
The biggest drop belongs to Columbia (Lake City) who fell 13 spots from #7 to #20 this week after being eliminated by Middleburg in the 6A-2 district semifinals. Bolles (Jacksonville) who dropped from 13th last week to out of the poll after losing to Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) in the District 3-4A semifinals. It’s the first time Bolles has missed out on the regional playoffs since 2000. Other teams still in the poll who did not qualify for the regionals are Forest (Ocala) at #12 and Spruce Creek (Port Orange) at #15.
Episcopal (Jacksonville) and Eustis both moved into the poll at 16th and T-17 respectively after both winning their respective district tournaments. Vanguard dropped out of this week’s poll after being eliminated by Lake Minneola in the District 6-6A semifinals.
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 #7
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, overall record through 4/28 and total voting points)
1. Creekside (St. Johns) (7) (6A) (23-4) – 140
2. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (19-7) – 129
3. Hernando (Brooksville) (5A) (23-4) – 118
4. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (20-7) – 114
5. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (19-7) – 111
6. Stanton (Jacksonville) (5A) (19-6)– 104
7. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (18-6) – 102
8. Ponte Vedra (5A) (19-8) – 101
9. Williston (1A) (21-4) – 83
10. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (8A) (18-6) – 71
11. Trenton (1A) (20-3) – 64
12. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (19-5) – 41
13. Bartram Trail (Jacksonville) (6A) (18-9) – 34
14. Seven Rivers Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (20-2) – 33
15. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (20-7) – 32
16. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-10) – 30
T-17. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (4A) (18-8) – 29
T-17. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (17-9) – 29
T-17. Eustis (5A) (19-8) – 29
20. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (17-5) – 22
Also receiving votes:
Yulee (4A) (15-6) – 9, DeLand (8A) (17-10) – 8, The Villages (4A) (15-8) – 8, Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (15-7) – 7, Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (16-8) – 6, Forrest (Jacksonville) (6A) (17-8) – 6, Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (15-7) – 3, Taylor (Pierson) (1A) (15-9) – 1.
