Clay (Green Cove Springs) takes over top spot in regional rankings as high school baseball regular season heads down the stretch
GAINESVILLE — As the high school baseball season continues to head down the stretch, many good teams continue to move up the rankings of The Prep Zone Power Poll.
And this week, the Clay (Green Cove Springs) Blue Devils find themselves at the top by themselves.
After being tied with Spruce Creek (Port Orange) in the previous poll, Clay (17-3) won six of their eight games over the last few weeks, including a win at #4 Fleming Island (Orange Park), a 14-inning victory at #6 Santa Fe (Alachua) that ended the Raiders’ 14-game winning streak, an 8-3 win over #11 Episcopal (Jacksonville), and a wild come-from-behind 14-11 extra-inning victory at #10 Suwannee (Live Oak).
The only two losses in that stretch were to Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) and #T-13 Creekside (St. Johns).
That was enough to get the Blue Devils, who are ranked #1 in the state in Class 4A by MaxPreps, seven of the eight first-place votes in the latest all-classification regional rankings.
Bolles (Jacksonville) is 2nd.
The Bulldogs (18-3), who are ranked 2nd in Class 3A, earned the other first-place vote this week.
Bolles was 7-1 since the last poll with wins over Episcopal and #16 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) as well as a victory at RV Providence (Jacksonville), with the only loss in that stretch 1-0 at #3 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) on March 26.
Bartram Trail (18-4) follows right behind Bolles at #3 as they were 8-2 in their last 10 games.
As well as the win over Bolles, the Bears also defeated Episcopal, Mandarin, and Creekside since the last poll with their only losses coming to rival Creekside and Providence.
Fleming Island (Orange Park) moved up three spots to 4th.
The Golden Eagles (17-3), ranked No. 3 statewide in 6A by MaxPreps, also were 8-2 since the last ranking with a win over Creekside and then-#5 St. Johns Country Day, with the only setbacks to Clay and #9 Sandalwood (Jacksonville).
Spruce Creek rounds out the top five this week.
The Hawks (17-5) dropped from a tie for first with Clay in the previous poll after losing three games, including to Merritt Island earlier this week. Spruce Creek also lost contests to #7 University (Orange City) and Key West at the Florida High School Invitational in Sanford in late March.
The second five consists of #6 Santa Fe (Alachua), who at 17-2 has won 16 of its last 17 games with the only loss in 14 innings to #1 Clay. The Raiders are ranked #2 in 4A statewide by MaxPreps, right behind the Blue Devils.
University moved up three spots to 7th, with the highlight of the last few weeks a 2-1 win over Spruce Creek.
St. Johns Country Day drops three spots to 8th but stays in the top 10.
The Spartans (15-6), who are ranked 2nd in 2A, lost a game to Fleming Island and a couple of games to state-ranked Sarasota Riverview at the IMG Tournament in early April.
Sandalwood and Suwannee both move up a couple of spots to round out the top 10.
First Coast (Jacksonville), which is 18-2, is the only team to move into the poll this week at #20. The Bucs replace Columbia (Lake City).
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, girls basketball, boys 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 and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL POWERED BY ANYTIME FITNESS OF GAINESVILLE – 2021 BASEBALL POLL #3
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, record through 4/14, and total voting points.)
1. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (4A) (7) (17-3) – 159
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (3A) (1) (18-3) – 146
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (18-4) – 134
4. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (17-3) – 128
5. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (17-5) – 127
6. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (17-2) – 123
7. University (Orange City) (7A) (17-3) – 119
8. St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (15-6) – 114
9. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (7A) (17-2) – 96
10. Suwannee (Live Oak) (4A) (16-5) – 82
11. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (15-5) – 68
12. Hernando (Brooksville) (4A) (21-2) – 64
13T. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (13-8) – 63
13T. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (19-1) – 63
15. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (13-5-1) – 41
16. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (12-8) – 39
17. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (13-6) – 24
18. Newberry (1A) (16-1) – 24
19. North Marion (Citra) (4A) (13-5) – 20
20. First Coast (Jacksonville) (6A) (18-2) – 17
Also receiving votes: Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (4A) (18-3) – 11; Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (11-10) – 6; Hamilton County (Jasper) (1A) (13-6) – 3; Lake Minneola (Minneola) (5A) (14-6) – 3; Keystone Heights (3A) (12-10) – 1.
