News4Jax Super 6 baseball: Trinity moves up, Sandalwood moves in to poll

The News4Jax.com Super 6 high school baseball weekly power rankings will be published each Thursday during the season. Records are through March 6 games. 

No., Team, Class, Previous

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1. Trinity Christian (5-0), Class 4A, 2

Notable wins: Brookwood, Ga., Niceville, South Forsyth, Ga.

Glance: Trinity has 13 extra-base hits in five games, including two by junior OF Kishon Frett. The Conquerors won the LaGrange Toyota Invitational, with a 7-3 win over Brookwood in the final as they supplant Bolles for the top spot. Trinity’s Dylan Simmons took tournament MVP honors, one of five Conquerors players to make the all-tournament team, joining Connor Aldrich, Dawson Fietsam, Frett and Justin Parrish. Simmons went 5 for 10 at the plate with three doubles and three RBI. He also earned a win on the mound (4.2 IP, 8 Ks). Simmons is hitting .571. Solid week of work in Georgia. Brookwood was a Class 7A state semifinalist last year, while Niceville was 24-4. South Forsyth went 28-8 in 2018. 

2. Bolles (3-1), Class 5A, 1

Notable wins: Bartram Trail, Bishop Kenny, University Christian.

Glance: The Bulldogs move down a slot after a 6-5 loss on Wednesday night to previous No. 6 Mandarin in probably one of the sloppier defensive games that I can recall Bolles playing the last few years (seven errors led to five unearned runs). Not a whole bunch of room for concern though. I think that the top three teams in our area are interchangeable at this point and probably will swap positions all season. We’re going to hear a ton about Hunter Barco this season and rightfully so. He’s logged nine innings this year, struck out 19 and allowed just one hit and one walk in a 2-0 start. But the other Bolles arms that you may forget about — Jackson Baumeister, Connor Boyer and Patrick Libby — have a strong line, too. Combined, they’ve logged 15 innings, struck out 19, allowed eight hits and just one earned run. 

3. Providence (4-1), Class 4A, 3

Notable wins: Buford, Ga., Mobile Christian, Ala., South Forsyth, Ga.

Glance: The Stallions finished third in the LaGrange Toyota Invitational, their lone loss a 1-0 setback to Brookwood. Providence actually went 3-1 in the tournament, the second-best record behind Trinity. Tyler Callihan, Nathan Hickey and Ben Weeks made the all-tournament team. Hickey leads the Providence sluggers at the plate with four homers and Callihan three. As a side, Stallions coach Mac Mackiewicz won his 400th career game at the event with a 7-6 win over South Forsyth. In the tournament, Providence knocked off both Buford, the Class 5A state runner-up in 2018, as well as Class 3A Alabama state champion, Mobile Christian. Cutter Cannon and Max Netzel combined on a perfect game in a 15-0 win over Interlachen on Tuesday. The Stallions opened the USA Today rankings as No. 17 in the country.

4. Creekside (3-0), Class 8A, 4

Notable wins: Bishop Kenny, New Smyrna Beach. 

Glance: The Knights took care of business, handling North Marion (6-1) and NSB (4-0). There’s always challenging district games against St. Augustine (March 12-13) on the horizon, but the meat of Creekside’s schedule comes from mid-April onward. 

5. Clay (3-0, Class 6A), 5

Notable win: Baker County.

Glance: The Blue Devils have put up a combined 36 runs in three blowout wins to open the season, but there’s a significantly challenging stretch ahead, beginning today against St. Johns Country Day, followed by No. 1 Trinity on Saturday. Throw in the likes of Yulee, Fleming Island, Oakleaf, Bartram, Bishop Kenny, Episcopal and Bolles, and we’re going to learn a lot about Clay by the end of March. Justin Mosley (.667) leads the Blue Devils at the plate among hitters with nine ABs or more. 

6. Sandalwood (3-0, Class 9A), NR

Notable wins: Atlantic Coast, Mandarin.

Glance: Splitting hairs in this No. 6 spot for the second week in a row. I’ve got the Saints in over Ponte Vedra here this week. Sandalwood knocked off previous No. 6 Mandarin, 4-0, as its headlining win as Tyler Mills fired a two-hitter with a pair of Ks. Carson Bayne and Nick Schroader have two multi-hit games this season. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ponte Vedra here, and a five-RBI game by Carter Page that included a homer and a double to edge Mandarin, 9-8. 

Dropped out: Mandarin (3-2, Class 9A).

On the bubble: Atlantic Coast (1-2, Class 8A), Bartram Trail (2-1, Class 8A), Bishop Kenny (1-2, Class 5A), Fleming Island (2-1, Class 8A), Fletcher (3-0, Class 8A), Mandarin (3-2, Class 9A), Middleburg (4-0, Class 7A), Parker (3-0, Class 6A), Ponte Vedra (2-0, Class 6A), Ridgeview (2-2, Class 6A), St. Johns Country Day (3-0, Class 3A), Yulee (1-1, Class 6A).
 


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.