New No. 1 Gainesville has won 16 games in a row
GAINESVILLE – For the third consecutive week there’s a new team on top of the Prep Zone Power Poll.
Fleming Island (Orange Park) and Forest (Ocala) have been ranked #1, but Gainesville climbed to No. 1 after a 4-0 week which included three shutout victories.
The Purple Hurricanes, winners of 16 in a row, received five of the seven first-place votes and moved up one spot following Forest’s first loss of the season. The ‘Canes (19-1) are ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 6A and among the top 10 teams in the state regardless of classification in the Miracle Sports state softball poll.
Unbeaten Bradford (Starke) moved up to second. The Tornadoes (13-0), ranked second in 4A, received the other two first-place votes. They are currently ranked 12th in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ (16-1) first loss at Belleview, which moved up five spots to eighth, dropped them from first to third in this week’s poll. Forest, which is ranked second in 6A behind GHS, outscored Vanguard (Ocala) and Leesburg by a combined 30-0 prior to their 7-6 loss to the Rattlers.
Fleming Island (16-2), which is ranked 5th in Class 7A, is next at No. 4, followed by Bartram Trail (St. Johns) in the top five. The Bears (14-4) moved up one spot to fifth after wins against #12 Clay (Green Cove Springs) (14-3) and #15 University Christian (Jacksonville) (10-3).
Class 8A University (Orange City) (16-3) is ranked sixth, followed by 4A Bolles (Jacksonville) (11-2), 5A Belleview (14-4), 5A Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (14-2) and 5A Nature Coast (Brooksville) (16-2) in the top 10.
Eustis is in the poll following a 4-0 week that included wins against 8A Apopka and previous No. 10 South Sumter (Bushnell). The Panthers (13-4), ranked 9th in the state in Class 5A, are ranked 16th.
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 – 2015 SOFTBALL POLL #3
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, overall record through 3/23 & total voting points)
1. Gainesville (6A) (5) (19-1) – 138
2. Bradford (Starke) (4A) (2) (13-0) – 133
3. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (16-1) – 125
4. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (16-2) – 117
5. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (14-4) – 114
6. University (Orange City) (8A) (16-3) – 100
7. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (11-2) – 97
8. Belleview (5A) (14-4) – 90
9. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (14-2) – 85
10. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (16-2) – 81
11. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (10-3) – 66
12. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (14-3) – 61
13. South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (15-3) – 59
14. Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) (6A) (10-1) – 41
15. University Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (10-3) – 33
16. Eustis (5A) (13-4) – 30
17. Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (7A) (11-4) – 29
18. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (14-2) – 26
19. Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) (4A) (9-4) – 10
20. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (13-4) – 9
Also receiving votes: Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (11-5) – 6; Deltona (6A) (13-3) – 5; Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (12-5) – 5; Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (12-6) – 5; Chiefland (1A) (8-3) – 3; Keystone Heights (4A) (11-7) – 2.
