News4Jax Super 6 Baseball: Creekside, Trinity move up, Mandarin moves in

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4Jax.com Super 6 high school baseball weekly rankings will be published each Thursday during the season. Records are through April 24 games. 

No., Team, Class, Previous

1. Bolles (19-2), Class 5A, 1

Notable wins: Baker County (twice), Bartram Trail, Bishop Kenny, Christian Academy of Knoxville, Creekside, Episcopal, Ponte Vedra, Providence, Ridgeview, Sandalwood, Suwannee (twice), University Christian.

Glance: The Bulldogs have won 10 straight games, with the final seven during that streak high quality victories over teams above .500. Bolles knocked off Super 6 No. 4 Creekside (8-4) and No. 5 Providence (11-7) over the last week. They’ve got a big one on tap Friday at Trinity Christian.  

2. Trinity Christian (16-7-1), Class 4A, 3

Notable wins: Brookwood, Ga., Centennial (Nev.), Clay, Episcopal, Mandarin, Niceville, North Florida Christian, South Forsyth, Ga., Nease, Providence.

Glance: The Conquerors’ winning streak reached five games, including a high quality 5-2 win over North Florida Christian, as well as a pair of District 2-4A routs of Interlachen and Duval Charter. Those solidified Trinity’s No. 2 seed in the district tournament behind Bishop Snyder and in front of Providence and Episcopal. That’s a difficult district. Outside of Trinity’s Friday game against No. 1 Bolles, it wraps up with two quality local opponents in Ridgeview (April 30) and Ponte Vedra (May 2). 

3. Creekside (16-4), Class 7A, 4

Notable wins: Atlantic Coast, Bartram Trail, Bishop Kenny, Fleming Island, Nease (twice), North Marion, St. Johns Country Day.

Glance: A 1-1 mark since our last Super 6, with the Knights earning a split of the season series against previous No. 2 Bartram Trail (5-3) and then losing to No. 1 Bolles (8-4). The Knights will either be the No. 1 or 2 seed for the District 4-7A tournament, pending a coin flip or blind draw tiebreaker. Both Creekside and Bartram finished district play 7-1. 

4. Bartram Trail (17-5), Class 7A, 2

Notable wins: Atlantic Coast, Bishop Snyder, Clay, Creekside, Mandarin, Nease (twice), New Smyrna Beach, Ponte Vedra, Ridgeview. 

Glance: Since the Bears’ 10-game winning streak ended, they’ve gone 2-3, with wins over Creekside and Orange Park and losses to Flagler Palm Coast, Creekside and Nease. They finish the regular season with games against St. Augustine (Thursday), at Bishop Kenny (April 30) and Fleming Island (May 2). 

5. Providence (13-7), Class 4A, 5

Notable wins: Buford, Ga., Episcopal, Mobile Christian, Ala., Mosley, North Florida Christian, South Forsyth, Ga., St. Johns Country Day, Venice.

Glance: The season has been a tale of two halves for the Stallions, who started 9-1 yet are just 4-6 since. Granted, Providence hasn’t been playing slouches, so credit the schedule for the challenges. Providence closes at Creekside (Thursday), at Clay (April 30) and Nease (May 2). 

6. Mandarin (14-6), Class 9A, NR

Notable wins: Atlantic Coast, Bishop Kenny, Bolles, Christ’s Church, Episcopal (twice), Sandalwood (twice)

Glance: The Mustangs return to the Super 6 in a spot that has been unforgiving in recent weeks. They’ve got a challenging Gateway tournament game Thursday night against Sandalwood, a team that they’ve faced three times this season (2-1 against). Mandarin gets the nod this week in front of a red-hot Fleming Island (nine straight wins), and an 18-win Fletcher. 

Dropped out: Clay (15-6, Class 6A).

On the bubble: Bishop Kenny (13-10, Class 5A), Bishop Snyder (12-8, Class 4A), Christ’s Church (13-5, Class 2A), Clay (15-6, Class 6A), Episcopal (13-8, Class 4A), Fleming Island (15-6, Class 8A), Fletcher (18-3, Class 8A), Oakleaf (11-8, Class 8A), Paxon (14-4, Class 6A), Ponte Vedra (14-8, Class 6A), Middleburg (13-8, Class 7A), Ridgeview (11-9, Class 6A), St. Johns Country Day (14-7, Class 3A), Sandalwood (15-5, Class 9A), Suwannee (13-7, Class 5A), West Nassau (14-6, Class 5A).


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.