Nationally-ranked Oakleaf (Orange Park) and Gainesville suffer defeats but hold on to the top spot
Gainesville – Heading into the final week of the regular season, the top-ranked team in the Prep Zone Power Poll remains the same.
Despite their first loss of the season, Oakleaf (Orange Park) remained No. 1 in the all-classification regional softball rankings.
However, the gap narrowed.
The Knights (19-1), who were ranked No. 1 in the country by MaxPreps until the defeat, lost to St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale) at the Kissimmee Klassic and fell to second in the Class 8A state rankings behind the Raiders. But wins against Cooper City and RV Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) were enough to keep them on top as they picked up five first-place votes.
Nationally-ranked Gainesville also went 2-1 at the Kissimmee Klassic with a loss to defending Illinois state champion Downers Grove South. They had picked up a win earlier in the week against P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), which helped the Hurricanes (17-2) collect the other two first-place votes as they remained second behind the team that had beat them 2-1 earlier in the season.
Belleview, which also went 2-1 at the tournament, remained third. Prior to that, the Rattlers (16-4) won at previous No. 12 Forest (Ocala), 8-2, which dropped the Wildcats (13-9) three spots to 15th this week.
South Sumter (Bushnell) remained fourth.
The Raiders (17-2) are followed by Deltona (16-2) in the top five, while Chiefland, Glen St. Mary Baker County (16-5), Spring Hill Springstead (21-1), Green Cove Springs Clay (16-4) and Ponte Vedra (16-5), which dropped from fifth to 10th after a 2-2 week, round out the top 10.
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 – 2016 SOFTBALL POLL #7
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 4/2, and total voting points)
1. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (5) (19-1) – 138
2. Gainesville (7A) (2) (17-2) – 133
3. Belleview (6A) (16-4) – 121
4. South Sumter (Bushnell) (5A) (17-2) – 120
5. Deltona (7A) (16-2) – 112
6. Chiefland (1A) (20-1) – 99
7. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (16-5) – 95
8. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (21-1) – 93
9. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (6A) (16-4) – 80
10. Ponte Vedra (6A) (16-5) – 79
11. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (9A) (15-4) – 64
12. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (17-5) – 61
13. West Nassau (Callahan) (5A) (15-6) – 60
14. Nature Coast (Brooksville) (5A) (20-3) – 55
15. Forest (Ocala) (8A) (13-9) – 31
16. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (10-4) – 28
17. Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (12-5) – 27
18. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (9A) (16-3) – 15
19T Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (16-6) – 14
19T Fort White (1A) (15-0) – 14
Also receiving votes: Nease (Ponte Vedra) (7A) (12-7) – 10; Eustis (5A) (14-4) – 7; Lake Minneola (8A) (14-5) – 5; Montverde Academy (4A) (14-4) – 4; Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (8A) (13-7) – 3; Dunnellon (6A) (15-7) – 1; Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (13-3) – 1.
