GAINESVILLE – After winning the prestigious Kissimmee Klassic last weekend, Oakleaf was rewarded with being named the No. 1 overall team in the state in the latest Miracle Sports State Softball Poll as well as the PrepZone Area Power poll.
MIRACLE SPORTS STATE SOFTBALL RANKINGS
ALL-CLASSIFICATION
1. Orange Park Oakleaf (8A) 18-2
2. Coral Springs Charter (5A) 19-2
3. Wellington (8A) 20-2
4. Bartow (8A) 18-2
5. Pembroke Pines Charter (7A) 18-3
6. New Port Richey River Ridge (6A) 18-1
7. Land O’Lakes Sunlake (7A) 17-1
8. Clermont East Ridge (8A) 19-1
9. Lithia Newsome 7-0 (9A) 15-2
10. Tallahassee Chiles (8A) 18-1
CLASS 9A
1. Lithia Newsome 15-2
2. Apopka 17-3
3. Miami Palmetto 15-3
4. Jupiter 14-4
5. Palm Harbor University 15-4
6. Tampa Alonso 14-4
7. Orange City University 16-4
8. Jacksonville Mandarin 16-4
9. Kissimmee Osceola 13-4
10. Vero Beach 13-1
Honorable mention: Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley 15-3; Orlando Dr. Phillips 16-2; Orlando Timber Creek 13-3; Davie Western 12-4; Parkland Stoneman Douglas 11-5; Davenport Ridge Community 10-4; Coconut Creek Monarch 10-4; West Broward 11-4; Winter Garden West Orange 13-7.
CLASS 8A
1. Orange Park Oakleaf 18-2
2. Wellington 20-2
3. Bartow 18-2
4. Clermont East Ridge 19-1
5. Tallahassee Chiles 18-1
6. Bradenton Lakewood Ranch 17-4
7. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas 12-4
8. Cooper City 16-3
9. Oviedo Hagerty 15-4
10. Lakeland George Jenkins 15-4
Honorable mention: Winter Springs 17-5; Plant City 15-4; Tarpon Springs East Lake 16-3; Valrico Bloomingdale 15-6; Lutz Steinbrenner 12-5; Tallahassee Lincoln 12-5; Tampa Wharton 11-4; Tampa Freedom 12-5; Boca Raton Spanish River 11-4.
CLASS 7A
1. Pembroke Pines Charter 18-3
2. Land O’Lakes Sunlake 17-1
3. Viera 18-1
4. St. Johns Bartram Trail 14-2
5. Fort Myers 18-2
6. Lake City Columbia 17-3
7. Gainesville 16-4
8. Tampa Chamberlain 17-3
9. Bradenton Braden River 16-3
10. Deltona 15-2
Honorable mention: Estero 18-3; West Boca Raton 15-3; Eagle Lake Lake Region 16-6; Seminole Osceola 14-6; Niceville 12-4; Melbourne 12-5; Navarre 12-4; Miami Terra Environmental 11-3.
CLASS 6A
1. New Port Richey River Ridge 18-1
2. Land O’Lakes 17-4
3. Spring Hill Springstead 17-3
4. Rockledge 16-3
5. Immokalee 16-3
6. North Fort Myers 16-4
7. Crystal River 11-2
8. Dunnellon 13-6
9. Plantation American Heritage 11-7
10. Sebring 14-4
Honorable mention: Orange Park Ridgeview 11-4; Tarpon Springs 13-4; Tampa Robinson 16-5; Eau Gallie 11-5; Cape Coral Mariner 12-6; Panama City Beach Arnold 14-6.
CLASS 5A
1. Coral Springs Charter 19-2
2. Marianna 17-2
3. Pierson Taylor 13-1
4. Eustis 14-3
5. Brooksville Hernando 15-2
6. Key West 12-3
7. Miami Gulliver Prep 11-6-1
8. Callahan West Nassau 14-5
9. Keystone Heights 14-7
10. Lakeland McKeel Academy 14-6
Honorable mention: The Villages 15-5; Lake Placid 15-5; Port Orange Atlantic 10-4; Glen St. Mary Baker County 13-5; Titusville Astronaut 11-5; Alachua Santa Fe 14-7; Cocoa Space Coast 13-6-1; Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek 12-7.
CLASS 4A
1. Jacksonville Providence 13-2
2. West Palm Beach Oxbridge Academy 15-4
3. Miami Westminster Christian 16-6
4. Chaminade Madonna 5-1
5. Tampa Catholic 12-5
6. Tampa Academy of the Holy Names 12-6
7. Panama City North Bay Haven 14-6
8. Jacksonville Trinity Christian 13-7
9. Jacksonville Episcopal 7-5
10. Delray Beach American Heritage 8-5
Honorable mention: Winter Park Trinity Prep 9-5; Clearwater Calvary Christian 7-5; West Palm Beach King’s Academy 14-5; Fort Myers Bishop Verot 12-9; Interlachen 12-7; Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy 10-3.
CLASS 3A
1. Niceville Rocky Bayou Christian 10-1
2. Orange Park St. Johns Country Day 11-1
3. St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut 11-3
4. Lakeland Christian 13-4
5. Belle Isle Cornerstone Charter 12-8
6. Jacksonville University Christian 7-2
7. Oviedo Master’s Academy 8-2
8. Tallahassee North Florida Christian 7-5
9. Bradenton Saint Stephen’s Episcopal 9-4
10. Orlando Faith Christian 13-4
Honorable mention: Tampa Carrollwood Day 12-5; St. Petersburg Northside Christian 12-8; Marathon 11-8; Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin 8-6; Moore Haven 5-2.
CLASS 2A
1. Land O’Lakes Academy at the Lakes 17-4
2. Monticello Aucilla Christian 9-3
3. Homestead Colonial Christian 12-2
4. Jacksonville Christ’s Church Academy 9-1
5. Jacksonville Eagle’s View 12-3
6. Mount Dora Christian 15-4
7. Deltona Trinity Christian Academy 8-2
8. Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian 12-5
9. Palatka Peniel Baptist 14-3
10. St. Petersburg Canterbury 8-10
Honorable mention: Sarasota Christian 7-4; Palm Bay Covenant Christian 7-5; Naples Seacrest Country Day 8-5; Belle Glade Glades Day 6-5; Lake Worth Christian 4-2.
CLASS 1A
1. Trenton 17-3
2. Wewahitchka 16-4
3. Bonifay Holmes County 16-3
4. Lake Butler Union County 12-4
5. Jay 14-5
6. Panama City Bozeman 16-4
7. Bratt Northview 15-3
8. Chiefland 14-4
9. Sneads 16-5
10. Frostproof 12-3
Honorable mention: Mayo Lafayette 12-8; Madison County 12-5; Franklin County 10-8; Paxton 10-6; Altha 13-4.
GAINESVILLE – Last week there was a tie for first in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
This week there’s a tie for second.
But there is no denying who is playing the best softball right now and that’s a reason why they are No. 1 in the all-classification regional softball rankings.
Defending 8A state champion Oakleaf (Orange Park) received all six first-place votes.
The Knights (16-2) went 4-0 to win the Kissimmee Klassic, including a win against 8A #6 Bartow, 7-3, in the championship game. They also defeated 9A HM Stoneman Douglas (Parkland), 17-1; #6 Eustis, 2-1; and, 9A HM Timber Creek (Orlando), 4-1.
Oakleaf is also the top-ranked team in the all-classification state rankings by MaxPreps. They are also ranked 23rd nationally in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25.
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) and Columbia (Lake City) are tied for 2nd.
The Class 7A Bears (15-2), who handed the Knights one of their two losses, dropped one spot to second after a 2-1 week. They defeated previous No. #16 Mandarin (Jacksonville), 12-0, and Paxon (Jacksonville), 13-3, but lost to Middleburg, 9-3.
The Tigers (16-3) moved up one spot to second following a 10-3 win against Vanguard (Ocala) and a 5-2 win in 10 innings against current #13 West Nassau (Callahan).
GHS remained fourth.
The Hurricanes (16-4) went 3-1 at the Kissimmee Klassic. They posted wins against 9A HM Stoneman Douglas (Parkland), 4-3; 8A #9 Winter Springs, 3-1; and, 7A #1 Pembroke Pines Charter, 1-0. But an 11-0 loss to 8A #6 Bartow prevented them from reaching the championship game against Oakleaf.
Class 1A No. 1 Trenton rounds out the top five.
The Tigers (17-2) remained fifth following a 3-0 week. They defeated 1A #7 Chiefland, 10-0 (6); 1A HM Lafayette (Mayo), 2-1; and, 6A #7 Dunnellon, 8-1.
Eustis and Providence (Jacksonville) are tied for sixth.
The defending 5A state runner-up Panthers (14-3) went 3-1 at the Kissimmee Klassic, highlighted by a win against 8A #3 St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale). They also lost by just one, 2-1, to top-ranked Oakleaf.
Meanwhile the Stallions (13-1), the top-ranked team in 4A, went 2-0 with wins against 9A Sandalwood (Jacksonville) and 4A Interlachen.
Class 8A East Ridge (Clermont), which moved up four spots, is eighth, followed by 9A University (Orange City) and 6A Springstead (Spring Hill) in the top 10.
Baker County (Glen St. Mary) enters the rankings at No. 19. The Class 5A Wildcats (13-5) won at Montverde Academy, 6-4, and had an upset win at 9A #2 Apopka, 2-1.
Previous No. 17 Dunnellon dropped out. The Class 6A Tigers (13-5) went 0-2 with losses to #10 Springstead (Spring Hill), 8-0, and at #5 Trenton, 8-1.
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 and it is powered by Strive Fitness.
The Prep Zone Power Poll – 2018 Softball Poll #5
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 4/7, and total voting points)
1. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (6) (16-2) – 120
2T. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (15-2) – 110
2T. Columbia (Lake City) (7A) (16-3) – 110
4. Gainesville (7A) (16-4) – 99
5. Trenton (1A) (17-2) – 96
6T. Eustis (5A) (14-3) – 89
6T. Providence (Jacksonville) (4A) (13-1) – 89
8. East Ridge (Clermont) (8A) (19-1) – 76
9. University (Orange City) (9A) (16-4) – 62
10. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (17-3) – 58
11T. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (12-3) – 55
11T. Deltona (7A) (15-2) – 55
13. West Nassau (Callahan) (5A) (14-5) – 50
14. Keystone Heights (5A) (14-7) – 42
15. Hernando (Brooksville) (5A) (15-2) – 27
16. Taylor (Pierson) (5A) (13-1) – 25
17T. Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (8-5) – 23
17T. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (4A) (13-7) – 23
19. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (13-5) – 19
20. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (9A) (16-4) – 16
Also receiving votes: Ridgeview (Orange Park) (6A) (11-4) – 9, Crystal River (6A) (10-2) – 4, St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (3A) (11-1) – 3.
