New unanimous #1 team in regional baseball rankings
GAINESVILLE — There is no debate this week over who is the top team in the Prep Zone Power Poll regional baseball rankings.
The unanimous top-ranked team this week is from Jacksonville, but it isn’t the 
Trinity Christian Conquerors. The new #1 is Trinity Christian’s district rival, the Providence Stallions.
Providence (16-1) went 3-0 last week, including wins over teams from Alabama and Tennessee, and also knocked off Episcopal (Jacksonville) to pass Trinity Christian and move into the top spot this week with all six first place votes.
Providence will play at Trinity Christian this Friday. The Stallions are also the #1 team in 4A according to ThePrepZone.com state baseball rankings, with their only loss coming to a team from Alabama.
University (Orange City) moves up two spots to #2 after two wins last week over Ponte Vedra and Cooper City. The Titans (14-1-1) are ranked 5th in the latest state poll for 9A.
Trinity Christian drops into a tie for third with Bolles (Jacksonville).
The Conquerors (14-3) traveled to the National High School Invitational in Cary, NC last week and dropped games to Huntington Beach (CA) and Walton (GA) while beating Topsail (NC). Trinity Christian had been the number one team the first five weeks of this regional poll, and are ranked 4th in the latest 4A state poll.
Bolles (12-2) stayed put from last week’s poll after taking the week off for spring break.
Rounding out the top five is Creekside (St. Johns). The Knights (13-3) won two games last week against Sandalwood (Jacksonville) and Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) and moved up a spot from last week to fifth.
Leading off the second five is Fleming Island (Orange Park), who defeated Chiles (Tallahassee) and then-#13 Yulee, and moved up three spots to #6.
South Sumter (Bushnell) is 7th after going 3-1 last week at the Farm Bureau Classic, with the only loss coming in the championship game 2-1 to Mitchell (New Port Richey), which was ranked 7th in the 7A state poll.
Spruce Creek (Port Orange) made the biggest move up this week, climbing four spots from 12th to 8th after a 3-0 week. The Hawks (15-3) are currently ranked 8th in the 9A state poll.
Terry Parker (Jacksonville) is 9th this week. The Braves (14-2) won their Spring Break tournament last week and moved up two spots back into the top 10.
Rounding out the top 10 is Bartram Trail (St. Johns). The Bears (12-5) stayed put at #10 after a 3-1 week at the IMG National Academy tournament, with their only loss coming to the third-ranked team in 6A, Mosley (Lynn Haven).
While the largest move up this week belonged to Spruce Creek, North Marion (Citra) had the biggest fall, dropping seven spots from fifth last week to 12th this week. The Colts (12-4) dropped two games last week to Williston and Marion County rival Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
Yulee (13-5) was 0-3 last week and tumbled six spots from 13th to 19th.
Speaking of Trinity Catholic, the Celtics (14-4) beat Williston and North Marion and moved into the poll for the first time this season at a tie for 16th with Nease (Ponte Vedra).
Springstead (Spring Hill) also moved in at #18 along with Nature Coast (Brooksville), which is 20th.
Dropping out is Deltona, Chiefland, and Buchholz (Gainesville), who had been ranked in every poll so far in 2016.
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 BASEBALL POLL #6
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record through 3/26 and total voting points)
1. Providence (Jacksonville) (4A) (6) (16-1) – 120
2. University (Orange City) (9A) (14-1-1) – 110
3T. Bolles (Jacksonville) (5A) (12-2) – 107
3T. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (4A) (14-3) – 107
5. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (13-3) – 94
6. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (8A) (12-3) – 87
7. South Sumter (Bushnell) (5A) (14-2) – 86
8. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (9A) (15-3) – 68
9. Terry Parker (Jacksonville) (6A) (14-2) – 67
10. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (12-5) – 66
11. Forest (Ocala) (8A) (12-5) – 59
12. North Marion (Citra) (6A) (12-4) – 58
13. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (6A) (11-4) – 51
14. Belleview (6A) (16-2) – 47
15. Eustis (5A) (11-2) – 30
T-16. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (7A) (14-4) – 28
T-16. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (4A) (14-4) – 28
18. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (14-4) – 13
19. Yulee (5A) (13-5) – 10
20. Nature Coast (Brooksville) (5A) (13-3)
Also receiving votes: St. Joseph’s (St. Augustine) (3A) (12-2) – 8, Buchholz (Gainesville) (8A) (10-6) – 6, Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (11-7) – 2, Chiefland (1A) (13-4) – 1.
