GHS remains No. 1; Forest (Ocala) moves up to #2
GAINESVILLE – The battle for the top spot in Class 6A is also a race for No. 1 in the Prep Zone Power Poll.
Gainesville High, which was off last week for spring break, held on to the top spot in the regional rankings. The Lady Hurricanes, winners of 16 in a row, received five of the seven first-place votes and edged No. 2 Forest (Ocala), 136-133, in total voting points.
Forest, which went 4-1 last week, including 3-1 at the prestigious Kissimmee Klassic, moved up one spot to second and picked up one first-place vote. They defeated 7A honorable mention St. Cloud, 8A #5 Coral Reef (Miami) and 4A #5 Cocoa Beach. Their only loss last week was to 8A #1 Hagerty (Oviedo), 5-2, in the Blue Division semifinals.
Gainesville has not been defeated since a 2-1 loss to district rival Columbia (Lake City) on February 12. The ‘Canes (19-1) and Wildcats (20-2) are ranked Nos. 1 & 2, respectively, in the Miracle Sports Class 6A state softball poll.
Fleming Island, which remained 5th in Class 7A, moved up one spot to third. The Golden Eagles (17-2) have won four in a row since back-to-back losses to Bartram Trail (St. Johns), which moved up one spot to fourth, and 4A #9 Lincoln Park (Ft. Pierce).
Previously unbeaten Bradford (Starke), which is likely to fall out of the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings, dropped three spots to fifth following a 1-3 week at the Kissimmee Klassic. The Class 4A #4 Tornadoes (14-3), who actually picked up the other first-place vote, lost to 7A #6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale), 6A #3 East River (Orlando) and 8A #1 Hagerty (Oviedo).
Creekside (St. Johns) made the biggest jump in the poll, moving up five spots from 11th to sixth. The Knights (15-3), ranked 8th in Class 6A, went 5-0 last week, including 4-0 to win the Doc 4 Life Tourney in Ocala.
They are followed by Belleview (18-5), Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (15-2), University (Orange City) (18-5) and Nature Coast (Brooksville) (18-2) in the top 10.
None of the teams in the top 20 dropped out of the rankings this week.
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 #4
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, overall record through 3/29 & total voting points)
1. Gainesville (6A) (5) (19-1) – 136
2. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (1) (20-2) – 133
3. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (17-2) – 124
4. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (15-4) – 114
5. Bradford (Starke) (4A) (1) (14-3) – 111
6. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (15-3) – 103
7. Belleview (5A) (18-5) – 97
8. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (15-2) – 87
9. University (Orange City) (8A) (18-5) – 86
10. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (18-2) – 83
11. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (15-4) – 70
12. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (12-4) – 65
13. South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (15-3) – 58
14. Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (7A) (13-4) –40
15. University Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (11-3) – 39
16. Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) (6A) (10-1) – 37
17. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (18-2) – 28
18. Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) (4A) (10-4) – 23
19. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (13-4) – 12
20. Eustis (5A) (15-5) – 11
Also receiving votes: Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (12-5) – 6; Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (13-6) – 3; Deltona (6A) (13-3) – 2; Chiefland (1A) (10-3) – 2.
