Gainesville – Despite a loss last week, the Creekside (St. Johns) Knights are once again the unanimous #1 team in the baseball Prep Zone Power Poll.
Creekside (20-2) lost to St. Pius X (Atlanta, GA) 11-6 but still received all seven first place votes. The Knights rallied from that loss earlier in the week to beat then-#8 Fleming Island (Orange Park) 3-1 on Thursday. In fact the top six teams and seven of the top ten squads all lost at least one game last week, causing some shuffling behind Creekside in the top ten.
Spruce Creek (Port Orange) dropped a game to two-time defending state champion Venice but still moved up one spot from third to second. The Hawks (18-5) are the only 8A team in the top ten. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) moved up four spots to third after a 2-0 week. The Wildcats (18-6) knocked off Middleburg and Oakleaf (Orange Park) last week. Clay (Green Cove Springs) dropped two spots from #2 to #4 after 1-0 and 9-7 losses to district rival and then-#10 Ponte Vedra. Hernando (Brooksville) rounded out the top five, dropping one spot to fifth this week after a 6-0 loss to rival Citrus (Inverness).
Leading off the second five is Forest (Ocala) at #6. The Wildcats (17-4) moved up from three spots from last week after wins over Marion County rivals North Marion (Citra) and Lake Weir (Ocala). Columbia (Lake City) had a 2-1 week but a 15-4 loss to Oakleaf dropped the Tigers (15-4) from sixth to seventh. Ponte Vedra used the two wins over Clay to move up two spots this week to #8. The Sharks (16-7) however did lose 7-1 to then-#20 Bolles (Jacksonville). Fleming Island and Stanton (Jacksonville) round out the top ten.
Mandarin (Jacksonville) is the big mover this week. The Mustangs (15-4) won the Gateway Conference Tournament title, beating then-#13 Sandalwood (Jacksonville) 3-1 in the tourney championship game and moved up seven spots to lead off the second ten at #11. Bolles (16-7) also moved up five spots to #15 this week after wins over then-#10 Ponte Vedra and then-#12 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville). There are no new teams in this week’s poll but Trinity Catholic (Ocala) saw the biggest drop as the Celtics fell eight spots from #11 to a tie for 19th after an 0-2 week. Bishop Kenny also had an 0-2 week and dropped six places to #18.
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 – 2014 Baseball Poll #5
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, overall record through 4/13 and total voting points)
1. Creekside (St. Johns) (7) (5A) (20-2) – 140
2. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (18-5) – 122
3. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (18-6) – 110
4, Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (15-6) – 109
5. Hernando (Brooksville) (5A) (20-3)– 108
6. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (17-4) – 107
7. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (15-4) – 106
8. Ponte Vedra (5A) (16-7) – 93
9. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (15-5) – 89
10. Stanton (Jacksonville) (5A) (15-5)– 86
11. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (8A) (15-4) – 60
12T. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (14-7) – 58
12T. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (15-6) – 58
14. Williston (1A) (18-4) – 53
15. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (16-7) – 46
16. Trenton (1A) (16-3) – 39
17. Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) (2A) (18-1) – 23
18. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (13-8) – 13
19T. Belleview (5A) (12-5) – 11
19T. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (4A) (12-7) – 11
Also receiving votes: Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (15-7) – 8; DeLand (8A) (14-8) – 5; University Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (15-8) – 5; Newberry (1A) (17-5) – 4; Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (12-5) – 4; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (15-8) – 1; Taylor County (Perry) (4A) (14-6) – 1.
