GAINESVILLE – The race for the mythical high school baseball national championship just might run through Florida.
Four of the top five teams ranked in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings are from the Sunshine State. A total of seven Florida teams are in the poll.
Almost all of the No. 1 teams in Florida stayed the same, but there was one change at the top in theprepzone.com state baseball poll for Week #4.
Orlando Olympia (10-0) held on to the country’s top ranking, as well as the Class 8A and Florida all-classification top spot, following a 2-0 week which included a 9-7 victory at Oviedo, previously the top-ranked team in 7A. The Lions (13-2) dropped from first to second after the loss.
The top spot in Class 7A now belongs to Haines City, which moved into the MaxPreps national rankings at No. 17.
Last week, the Hornets (10-1) defeated nationally-ranked Winter Haven, the #1 team in Class 6A. It was just the second loss of the season for the Blue Devils (10-2) by a combined total of two runs.
Lake Worth Park Vista, which lost In the 8A semifinals last year, is ranked second in 8A and third in the country. The Cobras (12-1) are also ranked second in the state’s all-classification rankings.
Despite not advancing to the state semifinals last season, Class 5A teams Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy & Lynn Haven Mosley round out the top five of the national rankings at fourth and fifth, respectively. The Mavericks (13-0) stayed unbeaten and remained No. 1 in Class 5A by scoring three runs in the top of the 6th to rally for a 3-2 win against Plantation American Heritage, which remained fourth in the 5A state rankings.
Mosley (10-0), ranked second in 5A, also stayed unbeaten with a pair of one-run wins against Panama City Bay and Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee.
Class 7A schools St. Petersburg Northeast (14-0) and Cantonment Tate (11-0), 6A St. Johns Creekside (11-0), nationally-ranked 5A schools Archbishop McCarthy & Mosley, 3A teams Fort Myers Canterbury (12-0) and St. Augustine St. Joseph (9-0), and 1A Bratt Northview (9-0) join Olympia as the only undefeated teams remaining.
THEPREPZONE.COM STATE BASEBALL POLL – Week #4
ALL-CLASSIFICATIONS
1. Orlando Olympia (8A) 10-0
2. Lake Worth Park Vista (8A) 12-1
3. Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy (5A) 13-0
4. Lynn Haven Mosley (5A) 10-0
5. Haines City (7A) 10-1
6. Winter Haven (6A) 10-2
7. Oviedo (7A) 13-2
8. Tampa Alonso (8A) 13-1
9. Pembroke Pines Charter 8-1 (6A)
10. St. Petersburg Northeast 14-0 (7A)
CLASS 8A
1. Orlando Olympia 10-0
2. Lake Worth Park Vista 12-1
3. Tampa Alonso 13-1
4. Boca Raton 9-1
5. Pembroke Pines Flanagan 9-2
6. Loxahatchee Seminole Ridge 13-3
7. Miami Columbus 9-3
8. Oviedo Hagerty 9-3
9. Miami Palmetto 9-2
10. Miami Varela 8-2
Honorable mention: Miami Braddock 9-3, Miami Miami Senior 8-3, Parkland Stoneman Douglas 10-3, Homestead South Dade 8-4, Apopka 9-3, Palm Beach Gardens 9-3, Riverview 9-3.
CLASS 7A
1. Haines City 10-1
2. Oviedo 13-2
3. St. Petersburg Northeast 14-0
4. Winter Springs 9-2
5. Cantonment Tate 11-0
6. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas 10-1
7. Miami American 7-3
8. St. Cloud 10-1
9. Niceville 7-1
10. Melbourne Viera 10-2
Honorable mention: Brandon 10-2, Naples Gulf Coast 9-2, Kissimmee Osceola 9-2, Plant City Durant 10-3, Gainesville Buchholz 9-3, Lakeland 7-3.
CLASS 6A
1. Winter Haven 10-2
2. Pembroke Pines Charter 8-1
3. St. Johns Creekside 11-0
4. Venice 11-2
5. Miami TERRA Institute 11-1
6. Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy 8-3
7. Tampa Hillsborough 10-2
8. Pace 9-2
9. Cape Coral Ida Baker 12-2
10. Miami Goleman 8-3
Honorable mention: Jensen Beach 8-2, Miami Belen Jesuit 7-4, Naples Barron Collier 9-3, Stuart South Fork 7-3, Ocala Forest 9-2, Tampa Jefferson 7-4, Port St. Lucie 8-1, St. Johns Bartram Trail 9-3.
CLASS 5A
1. Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy 13-0
2. Lynn Haven Mosley 10-0
3. Rockledge 11-1
4. Plantation American Heritage 9-4
5. Tampa Jesuit 9-6
6. Dunedin 12-2
7. Merritt Island 11-3
8. Wesley Chapel 11-3
9. New Port Richey River Ridge 9-3
10. Zephyrhills 9-3
Honorable mention: Eustis 8-2, Glen St. Mary Baker County 10-3, Brooksville Hernando 10-4, Umatilla 10-1
CLASS 4A
1. Delray Beach American Heritage 11-2
2. Miami Gulliver Prep 9-4
3. Fort Myers Bishop Verot 11-3
4. Jacksonville Bolles 11-3
5. Pensacola Catholic 7-3
6. Jacksonville Trinity Christian 11-4
7. Key West 8-4
8. Pensacola West Florida 8-4
9. Ft. Lauderdale Calvary Christian Academy 8-4
10. Orlando Bishop Moore 10-2
Honorable mention: Bushnell South Sumter 7-1, Ft. Lauderdale Pine Crest 8-4. Orlando Lake Highland Prep 9-4.
CLASS 3A
1. Fort Myers Canterbury 12-0
2. Jacksonville University Christian 12-2
3. Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin 11-2
4. Miami Westminster Christian 11-2
5. Tallahassee North Florida Christian 8-5
6. Miami Palmer Trinity 11-2
7. St. Augustine St. Joseph 9-0
8. Clearwater Calvary Christian 9-2
9. Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy 10-2
10. Lake Worth Trinity Christian 9-3
Honorable mention: West Palm Beach Benjamin 8-3, Jacksonville Providence 6-6, Hialeah Educational Academy 10-2, Largo Indian Rocks Christian 10-3, Sarasota Out-of-Door Academy 9-2, Orlando The First Academy 10-2, Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic 10-3, Lake Mary Prep 9-3.
CLASS 2A
1. Brito Miami Private 9-2
2. St. Petersburg Keswick Christian 11-2
3. Deltona Trinity Christian 8-4
4. Naples Seacrest Country Day 7-3
5. Tampa Cambridge Christian 6-4
6. Ocala St. John Lutheran 10-4
7. Quincy Munroe 9-4
8. Belle Glade Glades Day 8-3
9. Vero Beach Master’s Academy 7-4
10. Sarasota Christian 7-3
Honorable mention: Kissimmee City of Life Christian 7-4, Jacksonville Cedar Creek Christian 9-7, Winter Garden Foundation Academy 5-5.
CLASS 1A
1. Williston 10-2
2. Mayo Lafayette 10-1
3. Panama City Bozeman 10-1
4. Bratt Northview 9-0
5. Blountstown 11-2
6. Chiefland 8-3
7. Paxton 5-1
8. Wewahitchka 9-2
9. Bonifay Holmes County 10-3
10. Hilliard 10-3
Honorable mention: Newberry 8-4, Pierson Taylor 8-4, Sneads 8-4, Bell 8-5.
