St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) remains on top as regular season winds down
GAINESVILLE — With the weather turning more spring-like and the record rainfall from March starting to slow down, the high school baseball teams in The Prep Zone Power Poll are starting to get on the field a bit more.
But the team at the top of the all-classification regional rankings is the same as it’s been all season and finished the 2021 season.
The St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) Spartans, who are the top-ranked team in Class 2A and statewide according to Max Preps, remained No. 1.
This after the Spartans (13-2) dropped only their second game of the season, to 7A No. 1 Stoneman Douglas (Parkland) at the NHSI Invitational in Cary, NC. But the Spartans won games against Huntington Beach (CA), Don Bosco Prep (NJ), and Servite (CA) before the loss to Douglas.
SJCD also picked up wins over RV Trinity Christian (Jacksonville), RV Oakleaf (Orange Park), and RV Providence (Jacksonville).
They received six of the seven first-place votes to remain at No. 1 this week.
Fletcher (Neptune Beach) is up two spots to No. 2.
The Senators (11-2) lost their first two games of the season, to No. 14 University Christian (Jacksonville) and RV Nease (Ponte Vedra). However, Fletcher won their five other games over the past two weeks, including wins at No. 3 Sandalwood (Jacksonville) and Trinity Christian.
Speaking of Sandalwood, the Class 7A Saints (12-2) are up four spots.
Sandalwood was 8-1 since the last ranking, with the only loss to Fletcher, and wins over Alpharetta (GA), Central (AL), both Chiles and Lincoln from Tallahassee, and suddenly red-hot Oakleaf.
Another team on fire, Columbia (Lake City), is up five spots to 4th.
The Tigers (12-2), who are ranked No. 4 in 5A by Max Preps, was 4-1 over the past two weeks with a win over No. 19T Baker County (Glen St. Mary) and 2A No. 6 North Florida Christian (Tallahassee), with the only setback, 7-6, at Baker County.
Santa Fe (Alachua) drops three spaces this week but rounds out the top five.
The Raiders (12-3) took care of business with easy wins at Keystone Heights, West Nassau (Callahan), and then-No. 18T North Marion (Citra), but dropped two games to Baker County.
Mandarin (Jacksonville) drops one spot out of the top five but leads off the second five at No. 6.
The Mustangs (13-2) received the other first-place vote after winning six of seven games in the last two weeks. Mandarin defeated Alpharetta, Ponte Vedra, and Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine), with their only loss coming to Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville).
Spruce Creek (Port Orange), which has won seven in a row, is up seven spots to No. 7, while Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville), following a 10-2 start, is ranked eigth, with their only loss recently to No. 13 Bartram Trail (St. Johns)
Rounding out the top 10 are No. 9 Clay, down six spots from the previous rankings, and No. 10 Forest (Ocala), who was unranked previously but moves all the way into the top 10 as the Wildcats (12-2) have won six in a row, including wins over RV Dunnellon, North Marion, and No. 11 Buchholz (Gainesville).
The Villages (11-4) moves into the poll this week at No. 17 after beating Buchholz and Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
Also new to the poll are No. 18 University (Orange City) and No. 19T Lake Minneola (Minneola), who is tied with Trinity Catholic and Baker County this week.
Dropping out from the previous poll are DeLand, Providence, Fleming Island (Orange Park), and North Marion.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls volleyball, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball & baseball 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 – 2022 BASEBALL POLL #4
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, record through 4/11, and total voting points)
1. St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (6) (13-2) – 139
2. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (6A) (11-2) – 124
3. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (7A) (12-2) – 112
4. Columbia (Lake City) (5A) (12-2) – 111
5. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (12-3) – 110
6. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (1) (13-2) – 108
7. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (6A) (13-5) – 86
8. Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) (3A) (10-2) – 85
9. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (4A) (10-6) – 79
10. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (12-2) – 71
11. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (11-4) – 70
12. Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (13-0) – 60
13. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (11-7) – 59
14. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (14-4) – 50
15. Hernando (Brooksville) (4A) (13-4) – 30
16. Bolles (Jacksonville) (3A) (7-6) – 29
17. The Villages (3A) (11-4) – 23
18. University (Orange City) (6A) (12-4) – 19
19T. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (4A) (10-7) – 17
19T. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (5A) (11-4) – 17
19T. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (11-5) – 17
Also receiving votes: Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (12-5) – 16; Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (12-5) – 15; Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (10-7) – 14; Suwannee (Live Oak) (4A) (12-4) – 12; Nease (Ponte Vedra) (9-5) – 5; DeLand (7A) (9-7) – 3; Dunnellon (4A) (11-5) – 3; St. Augustine (5A) (11-4) – 1.
