Oakleaf & Gainesville remain on top of the regional softball rankings
Gainesville – Following a dominating performance in the opening round of the state playoffs, the Oakleaf (Orange Park) Knights were a near unanimous selection as the No. 1 overall team in the regional softball rankings.
Oakleaf (24-2) received six of the seven first-place votes to remain on top of the Prep Zone Power Poll for the 8th straight week after a 14-0 win in five innings against Lincoln (Tallahassee) in the FHSAA Class 8A Regional Quarterfinals. They have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the country by MaxPreps, even though they did fall out of the national rankings.
Gainesville High, which lost to Oakleaf, 2-1, earlier this season, is ranked second. The Hurricanes defeated previous No. 20 Creekside (St. Johns), 3-0, in the 7A quarterfinals and picked up the other first-place vote. GHS (24-2) is ranked 19th nationally by MaxPreps.
South Sumter (Bushnell) (21-2) remained third following a 3-2 win against Keystone Heights in 5A, while 7A Deltona (23-3) and 6A Springstead (Spring Hill) (26-1) remained fourth and fifth, respectively, following first-round postseason wins.
The two-time defending 1A state champions from Chiefland opened up defense of their titles with a 6-0 win against Frostproof to remain sixth.
The Indians (25-1) are followed by Clay (Green Cove Springs), which flip-flopped with Baker County (Glen St. Mary), and is now ranked 7th, while the Wildcats dropped to eighth. Baker County (20-6) eliminated Yulee, 17-12, in the 5A regional quarterfinals, while Clay (22-4) run-ruled Ed White (Jacksonville), 14-4, in Class 6A.
Class 9A Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (19-5) and 5A Nature Coast (Brooksville) (24-4) remained 9th and 10th, respectively.
Class 5A Eustis (18-5), which won at Santa Fe (Alachua), 5-0, moved into the rankings at No. 18, while previous No. 19 Oak Hall (Gainesville) lost to North Florida Christian (Tallahassee), 9-1, in the 3A state playoffs and dropped out of the poll.
St. Johns County district rivals Creekside (13-8) and Bartram Trail (15-12), both tied for 20th, had their seasons come to an end which knocked them both out of the rankings.
University Christian (Jacksonville) (16-9), which upset previously unbeaten and 3A #1 Rocky Bayou Christian in Niceville, moved in at No. 20.
This is the last ranking during the season until the final poll is released following the high school softball state championships in Vero Beach (May 4-6).
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 #9
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 4/23, and total voting points)
1. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (6) (24-2) – 139
2. Gainesville (7A) (1) (24-2) – 134
3. South Sumter (Bushnell) (5A) (21-2) – 121
4. Deltona (7A) (23-3) – 119
5. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (26-1) – 116
6. Chiefland (1A) (25-1) – 101
7. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (6A) (22-4) – 96
8. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (20-6) – 91
9. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (9A) (19-5) – 90
10. Nature Coast (Brooksville) (5A) (24-4) – 77
11. Ponte Vedra (6A) (19-7) – 69
12. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (19-6) – 58
13. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (9A) (22-4) – 50
14. Forest (Ocala) (8A) (17-10) – 49
15. Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (18-5) – 48
16. Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (20-8) – 32
17. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (19-3) – 24
18. Eustis (5A) (18-5) – 15
19. Belleview (6A) (19-6) – 12
20. University Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (16-9) – 10
Also receiving votes: Montverde Academy (4A) (19-6) – 8; Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (8A) (17-9) – 6; Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (13-8) – 4; West Nassau (Callahan) (5A) (18-8) – 1.
