GAINESVILLE – Defending state champions and nationally-ranked teams highlight the first Florida high school baseball poll of the 2015 season.
Lake Worth Park Vista (4-1), which is ranked fifth in the country according to Perfect Game, is the top-ranked team in Class 8A, while defending state champion South Dade (5-0) begins the season third in theprepzone.com state baseball poll.
Coral Gables (5-0), seeking its first state title since 1960, is ranked second. The Cavaliers (5-0) return 15 seniors from last year’s 20-9 team and edge Orlando Olympia, which is ranked fourth. The Titans (4-0) are one of six nationally-ranked teams in Florida’s largest classification, along with Tampa Plant, Lake Mary, Miami Killian and Pembroke Pines Flanagan.
Hialeah American (4-2), which defeated Tarpon Springs East Lake in the 7A title game last season, returns to the top of the Class 7A rankings, followed by East Lake. The Eagles (5-0), who have a win over nationally-ranked & defending 5A state champion Tampa Jesuit, are currently the No. 1 team in the Tampa Bay area.
Another nationally-ranked team, Winter Haven, is ranked No. 1 in 6A. The Blue Devils (4-0), who finished 26-5 and state runners-up, return all nine position players.
Other defending state champions who begin the season ranked No. 1 in their respective classes include Tallahassee North Florida Christian (3A), Brito Miami Private (2A) and Williston (1A).
Theprepzone.com state baseball poll
CLASS 8A
1. Lake Worth Park Vista 4-1
2. Coral Gables 5-0
3. South Dade 5-0
4. Orlando Olympia 4-0
5. Tampa Plant 3-1
6. Oviedo Hagerty 5-0
7. Miami Columbus 5-1
8. Miami Killian 3-2
9. Pembroke Pines Flanagan 3-2
10. Lake Mary 3-2
Honorable mention: Tampa Alonso 3-1; Miami Varela 4-1; Miami Palmetto 4-0; Orange City University 4-0; Sunrise Piper 6-1; Parkland Stoneman Douglas 4-1.
CLASS 7A
1. Hialeah American 4-2
2. Tarpon Springs East Lake 5-0
3. Winter Springs 4-0
4. Oviedo 5-1
5. Gainesville Buchholz 6-0
6. Melbourne 4-0
7. West Boca Raton 5-0
8. Doral Reagan 4-1
9. Seminole 4-1
10. Haines City 3-0
Honorable mention: Brandon 4-1; St. Petersburg Northeast 4-0; Plant City Durant 3-1; Sarasota 3-1.
CLASS 6A
1. Winter Haven 4-0
2. Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy 3-1
3. Pembroke Pines Charter 4-1
4. St. Johns Creekside 4-0
5. Venice 4-0
6. Pace 5-0
7. Hillsborough 4-0
8. St. Johns Bartram Trail 3-0
9. Miami Belen Jesuit 4-1
10. Ocala Forest 5-0
Honorable mention: Baker 6-0; Okeechobee 5-1; Naples Barron Collier 4-1; Tampa Jefferson 2-1; Stuart South Fork 4-1.
CLASS 5A
1. Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy 4-0
2. Plantation American Heritage 4-2
3. Dunedin 5-0
4. Tampa Jesuit 1-4
5. Lynn Haven Mosley 4-0
6. Rockledge 5-0
7. Cape Coral 4-1
8. Tampa Robinson 3-1
9. Ponte Vedra 2-1
10. Dade City Pasco 2-1
Honorable mention: Live Oak Suwannee, 4-1; Brooksville Hernando 3-1; Jacksonville Terry Parker 6-0; Fort Myers Cypress Lake 3-1; Cape Coral Mariner 3-2; Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons 1-4; Eustis 3-2.
CLASS 4A
1. Miami Gulliver Prep 3-1
2. Delray Beach American Heritage 2-2
3. Pensacola Catholic 3-0
4. Jacksonville Bolles 5-0
5. Ocala Trinity Catholic 2-2
6. North Broward Prep 2-3
7. Miami Monsignor Pace 4-1
8. Fort Myers Bishop Verot 3-2
9. Ft. Lauderdale University 5-1
10. Pensacola West Florida 4-0
Honorable mention: Tampa Berkeley Prep 2-3; Lakeland McKeel Academy 3-1; Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest 2-3; Miami St. Brendan 3-1.
CLASS 3A
1. Tallahassee North Florida Christian 2-1
2. Jacksonville Providence 3-1
3. Fort Myers Canterbury 5-0
4. Jacksonville University Christian 5-1
5. Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy 5-0
6. Clearwater Calvary Christian 3-1
7. Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin 4-1
8. Sarasota Cardinal Mooney 5-0
9. Clearwater Central Catholic 3-2
10. Lake Worth Trinity Christian 4-1
Honorable mention: Jacksonville Eagle’s View 5-1; West Palm Beach Benjamin 5-1; Maitland Orangewood Christian 3-3.
CLASS 2A
1. Brito Miami Private 4-0
2. Deltona Trinity Christian 4-2
3. Tampa Cambridge Christian 2-3
4. Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian 3-1
5. Tampa Bayshore Christian 2-0
6. St. Petersburg Keswick Christian 4-2
7. Sarasota Christian 4-2
8. Miami Christian 3-2
9. Quincy Munroe 2-3
10. Deerfield Beach Zion Lutheran 0-0.
CLASS 1A
1. Williston 4-0
2. Mayo Lafayette 3-1
3. Paxton 0-0
4. Blountstown 6-0
5. Trenton 2-1
6. Panama City Bozeman 3-0
7. Chipley 1-3
8. Pierson Taylor 2-2
9. Hilliard 4-0
10. Bonifay Holmes County 4-1
