Spruce Creek (Port Orange) and Clay (Green Cove Springs) tied for top spot in regional rankings as high school baseball regular season hits halfway point
GAINESVILLE — As the high school baseball season heads to the halfway point and district tournament play a little more than a month away, there are plenty of high-quality teams in the top 10 of The Prep Zone Power Poll.
And two of them are tied for the top spot in the latest rankings.
Spruce Creek (Port Orange) dropped their first two games of the season to #5 St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) and University (Orange City) but won six other games over the last few weeks. This was enough to get the Hawks (11-2) three of the eight first-place votes and keep them tied at the top of the latest poll.
Spruce Creek finds themselves tied for first with Clay (Green Cove Springs). The Blue Devils (11-1), ranked 1st in the state in 4A by Max Preps, picked up a 3-0 win at St. Johns Country Day and went 7-1 over the last month, picking up two first-place votes. Clay’s only loss was 1-0 on March 4 at #3 Bolles (Jacksonville)
Speaking of Bolles, the Bulldogs (11-2) have been on fire and are up four spots from the previous rankings. Bolles picked up two first-place votes after going 8-1 including that win over Clay and over Bishop Moore (Orlando). Bolles only loss during that span also came at Bishop Moore 3-2 in 8 innings on March 10.
Bartram Trail (St. johns) remains 4th. The Bears (10-2) won 7 of 8 games since the last poll with the only loss coming to Nease. Bartram Trail also picked up a win at #7 Fleming Island (Orange Park).
St. Johns Country Day (9-2) rounds out the top five despite dropping their first two games of the 2021 season. The Spartans, who are ranked #1 in 2A by Max Preps, lost back-to-back games to Clay and at #9 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) in mid-March but also picked up wins against a couple of Georgia teams plus the victory at Spruce Creek.
The second 10 consists of Creekside (St. Johns), who falls four spots from the previous poll to 6th, Fleming Island, Santa Fe (Alachua), Trinity Christian and University.
Santa Fe, who is ranked 2nd in Florida by Max Preps in 4A, makes a big move up 12 spots this week and into the top ten at #8. The Raiders (10-1) have won nine in a row, including two wins over then-#6 Suwannee (Live Oak) on March 16 and 17. Suwannee (9-3) drops to 11th.
University, who was unranked previously, also moves all the way into the top ten this week at #10 and receives the final first-place vote. The Titans (9-1), whose only loss came to RV New Smyrna Beach 7-6 in the opening week of the season, have won eight games in a row including a 2-1 win at Spruce Creek on March 13.
Also new to the poll this week is unbeaten Union County (Lake Butler), who is ranked #1 in 1A according to Max Preps. The Tigers (12-0) are the only undefeated team in 1A and picked up wins over RV P.K. Yonge Gainesville as well as IMG Academy Royal (Bradenton) earlier this week and make their debut in the power poll at #15.
Buchholz (Gainesville) also moves in at #17 as the Bobcats (7-3-1) picked up a couple of wins over #19 North Marion (Citra) over the last few weeks. Buchholz was due to play state-ranked Mosley (Lynn Haven) in a Spring Break tournament in the Panhandle this week.
Finally, another red-hot 1A team, Newberry, makes its power poll debut at 18th. The Panthers (11-1), ranked 3rd in 1A by Max Preps, picked up a couple of wins over then-#18 Chiefland and RV Trenton, with their only loss coming at 7A West Port (Ocala).
Chiefland and Trenton drop out from the previous poll along with Real Life Christian Academy (Clermont) and Providence (Jacksonville).
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, girls basketball, boys 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 and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POWERED BY ANYTIME FITNESS OF GAINESVILLE – 2021 BASEBALL POLL #2
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, record through 3/22, and total voting points.)
1T. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (4A) (2) (11-1) – 148
1T. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (3) (11-2) – 148
3. Bolles (Jacksonville) (3A) (2) (11-2) – 140
4. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (10-2) – 128
5. St. Johns County Day (Orange Park) (2A) (9-2) – 123
6. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (9-3) – 117
7. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (9-1) – 107
8. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (10-1) – 92
9. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (8-4) – 86
10. University (Orange City) (7A) (1) (9-1) – 76
11. Suwannee (Live Oak) (4A) (9-3) – 72
12. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (7A) (9-2) – 65
13. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (8-2) – 64
14. Hernando (Brooksville) (4A) (11-1) – 58
15. Union County (1A) (12-0) – 51
16. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (7-4) – 49
17. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (7-3-1) – 31
18. Newberry (1A) (11-1) – 25
19. North Marion (Citra) (4A) (7-3) – 23
20. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (7-4) – 21
Also receiving votes: Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (4A) (13-1) – 15; P.K Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (10-2) – 10; First Coast (Jacksonville) (6A) (11-1) – 6; Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (6-5) – 5; Real Life Christian Academy (Clermont) (2A) (6-2) – 5; Trenton (1A) (6-3) – 5; New Smyrna Beach (6A) (6-2) – 3; Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (8-3) – 2.
