Home Sports Baseball Prep Zone Power Poll – 2014 Baseball Poll – Week 8

Prep Zone Power Poll – 2014 Baseball Poll – Week 8

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creekside knightsGainesville – With just two more games to play before the state semifinals, the Creekside (St. Johns) Knights remain the unanimous #1 team in the baseball Prep Zone Power Poll.

The Knights, state semifinalists in 2013, have wins over #2 Clay, #4 Providence, #7 Bartram Trail (three times), #13 Stanton and #15 Fleming Island this season.  Creekside (24-4), which cruised to a 10-0 win over Englewood (Jacksonville) in the 6A regional quarterfinals, received all seven first-place votes.

Clay (Green Cove Springs) remained second following a 7-3 win over previous #4 Baker County (Glen St. Mary) in Class 5A.  The Wildcats (20-8) tumbled seven spots to 11th.

The Blue Devils (20-7) will now host Ponte Vedra in a No. 2 vs. No. 3 match-up in the second round of FHSAA state playoffs.  The Sharks (20-8) moved up five spots to third following a 7-1 win over previous #6 Stanton (Jacksonville) (19-7), which dropped seven spots to No. 13.

Defending state runners-up Providence (Jacksonville), which won the 3A state title in 2012, moved up one spot to fourth.  The Stallions (21-7) blanked St. Francis Catholic (Gainesville), 9-0, and will host Eagle’s View Academy (Jacksonville), which received a vote in this week’s poll.

Rounding out the top five is Williston.  The Class 1A Red Devils (21-4) are up four spots from No. 9 and open up the postseason at home against Wildwood.

Defending 1A state champion Trenton (20-3) is ranked sixth, followed by Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (19-9), Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (19-8), Episcopal (Jacksonville) (18-10), which has won 12 in a row, and Hernando (Brooksville) in the top 10.  The Leopards (23-5) dropped from third to 10th after being eliminated by Sunlake (Land O’ Lakes), 2-1, in the 5A regional quarterfinals.

DeLand (18-10), The Villages (16-8), Lafayette (Mayo) (15-7), Taylor (Pierson) (15-9) and Belleview (14-7), which won its first playoff game in 17 years, are newcomers to this week’s poll.  This is the last poll until after the FHSAA Baseball Finals are complete.

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 #8
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, overall record through 5/5 and total voting points)

1.  Creekside (St. Johns) (7) (6A) (24-4) – 140
2.  Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (20-7) – 131
3.  Ponte Vedra (5A) (20-8) – 124
4.  Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (21-7) – 123
5.  Williston (1A) (21-4) – 109
6.  Trenton (1A) (20-3) – 91
7.  Bartram Trail (Jacksonville) (6A) (19-9) – 88
8.  Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (4A) (19-8) – 72
9.  Episcopal (Jacksonville) (4A) (18-10) – 70
10. Hernando (Brooksville) (5A) (23-5) – 69
11. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (20-8) – 67
12. Eustis (5A) (20-8) –59
13. Stanton (Jacksonville) (5A) (19-7) – 55
14. DeLand (8A) (18-10) – 47
15T Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (18-8) – 40
15T The Villages (4A) (16-8) – 40
17. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (8A) (19-7) – 26
18. Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (15-7) – 22
19. Taylor (Pierson) (1A) (15-9) – 19
20. Belleview (5A) (14-7) – 17

Also receiving votes:  Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (15-7) – 16; Forest (Ocala) (6A) (19-5) – 14; Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) (2A) (20-3) – 7; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (20-7) – 7; North Marion (5A) (14-13)–7;Lake Minneola (6A) (16-11) – 5; Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (17-10) – 2; Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (16-11) – 2; Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) (3A) (14-13) – 1.