News4Jax Super 6 softball: Rankings hold steady as teams hit midway point

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – High school softball season is in full swing and so are our News4Jax Super 6 rankings. They will be published every Wednesday during the regular season. Records are through March 30 games.

Softball Super 6 rankings

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Rank, (previous) school, record, classification

1. (1) Oakleaf (11-1, Class 7A)

Notable wins: Clay, Creekside, East Ridge, Episcopal, Gainesville, Keystone Heights, Providence, Ridgeview.

Glance: The winning streak reached six since our last Super 6, with wins over Keystone Heights (12-8) and Nease (11-3). A big challenge awaits on Thursday when the Knights face 10-2 Lake Brantley. Khloe Banks (.476, 27 runs, 12 RBI, 2 HR), Kayla Aldridge (.458) and Ciara Gibson (.426, 15 RBI) are in the .400 club for the Knights at the midway point of the season. Not much to worry about at this point for the Knights, who have been ranked No. 1 for all but two weeks in the last three seasons in the News4Jax Super 6. Ridgeview had two weeks at No. 1 (the final Super 6 last year and one week this season).

2. (2) Ridgeview (13-3, Class 4A)

Notable wins: Bartram Trail, Clay, Episcopal, Fletcher, Keystone Heights, Oakleaf, Paxon, West Nassau (twice).

Glance: The Panthers had a 2-1 week, losing a tight one to Clay (3-2) and beating No. 5 Episcopal (2-0) and routing Palatka (15-5). I did give some consideration to swapping Ridgeview and red-hot Creekside, but the Panthers’ body of work thus far is too strong to make the swap at this point. Those teams face off on April 8 at Creekside. I feel like a broken record at this point, but Brittany Michael remains a force at the plate (.429) and in the circle (12-3, 142 Ks, 91 IP, 0.77 ERA). The area has some very good freshmen players and Haylee McCrea (.389) is among the best of the ninth graders. And you can’t mention the Panthers without a nod to the resolve of Brooke Michael, who has played in five games while in the midst of battling cancer.

3. (3) Creekside (13-2, Class 6A)

Notable wins: Baker County, First Coast, Fletcher, Mandarin, Matanzas, Middleburg, Providence, University Christian.

Glance: The Knights just keep on rolling. Creekside stretched its winning streak to 12 games since our last Super 6, drumming Mandarin (15-2) and beating First Coast (4-2), Matanzas (6-1) and Atlantic Coast (9-2). The closing stretch of games is by far the most challenging of the season for Creekside, starting with a rivalry game at Bartram Trail on Thursday. Madison Bratek (.532, 16 RBI) continues to power the Knights at the plate.

4. (4) Trinity Christian (11-2, Class 2A)

Notable wins: Bartram Trail, Fletcher, Providence, West Nassau.

Glance: Trinity has won four in a row, including three victories since our last Super 6, beating Ponte Vedra (18-4), roaring back to edge Fletcher (7-6) and then clubbing Yulee (21-4). Breezy Burnett (.550, 6 HR), MacKenzie Marell (.543, 4 HR) and Morgan McMillan (.500, 4 HR) remain in the .500 club for the Conquerors. Freshman Hannah Rivers is just under that number at .486. Amaya Ross has clubbed five homers in a high-powered offense, part of 21 HRs this season for Trinity.

5. (5) Episcopal (8-4, Class 3A)

Notable wins: Clay, Fletcher, Middleburg, Paxon, West Nassau.

Glance: Very strong week of work for the Eagles, who went 3-1 since our last Super 6. They beat three solid teams in shutout fashion, too, topping Fletcher (2-0), Paxon (10-0) and Clay (3-0). The lone loss was a 2-0 game to Ridgeview. The two local losses Episcopal has suffered this year have come to the only teams that have been ranked No. 1 in the Super 6 over the past three seasons (Oakleaf and Ridgeview). The Eagles wrap up their next Super 6 stretch with First Coast (Wednesday at home), Mandarin on Thursday (at home) and at Bartram Trail next Tuesday. Grace Jones (.486), Kami Eppley (.474) and Peyton Namyslowski (.400) continue to thrive at the plate. Jones and Maddie Latta lead a pitching staff with an ERA that continues to plummet (0.36).

6. (6) West Nassau (9-4, Class 3A)

Notable wins: East Ridge, Keystone Heights, Middleburg, Oxbridge Academy, Providence.

Glance: Nice week of work for the Warriors. They went down to unbeaten Oxbridge Academy and came away with a 4-3 win. To cap their 2-0 Super 6 week West Nassau beat a solid Providence squad 8-2. Big challenge ahead this week with the Warriors facing 13-2 Bartow on Thursday.

Others: Baker County (7-4, Class 4A); Baldwin (11-2, Class 3A); Bartram Trail (8-5, Class 7A); Bishop Kenny (6-3, Class 4A); Bolles (8-4, Class 3A); Clay (8-7, Class 4A); Fletcher (7-5, Class 6A); Keystone Heights (9-5, Class 3A); Mandarin (6-4, Class 7A); Middleburg (7-8, Class 5A); Paxon (7-4, Class 4A); Providence (6-5, Class 3A); Union County (8-4, Class 1A); University Christian (4-1, Class 2A).


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.