Pre-Season Baseball Rankings

Each week, I rank the local baseball teams from Lake City to Palatka, here are the pre-season baseball rankings.

Pre-Season Rankings

1. Bishop Kenny (28-4)
BK reached the pinnacle of the mountain capturing their first state title since 2002 and should be favored to repeat again with the return of all three pitchers Neil McClellan (Sr., P), Weston Hoekel (Jr. P) and Jason Jabour (Jr., P) along with Ben Gamel (Jr., OF.) and Seth Foster (Sr., 1B/P).

2. Eagle’s View (25-8)
University of Florida signee Austin Maddox (Sr., C/P) and North Carolina State signee Matt Bergquist (Sr., SS) look to lead the Warriors under first year head coach Terrance Freeman to their third straight state title and fourth in the last five years.

3. Providence (29-5)
Under Mac Mackiewitz, the Stallions led by Kyle Webb (Sr./P) and Bradley Goodson (Sr., SS) are seeking their third state title in seven years.

4. Wolfson (21-7)
Longtime coach Scott Marabell established a successful program of making the playoffs 7 of the 10 years he was their including three trips to the state finals (two runner-up finishes) before retiring at the end of the season. Former Eagle’s View and Lynn Haven Mosley head coach Jed Douglas takes over and wasn’t left empty handed with the return of Evan Edayan (Sr., Inf), Aaron Silbar (Jr., Inf.), Josh McCray (Sr., C), and Michael Clevenger (Sr., P).

5. Bolles (21-9)
Former Major League Baseball great Storm Davis takes over the Bolles program and will have stars Matt Barnes (Sr., SS), Michael Spense (Jr., P) and Niko Fraser (Sr., CF) back to help them get back to the state finals for the first time since 2007.

6. Mandarin (14-13)
Coming off a sub-par season, under former Parker coach Mark Lassiat, the Mustangs are poised to not only make some noise in their district but perhaps the school’s first ever appearance in the Elite 8 with the return of Tony Molica (Jr., LHP), Blake Berger (Jr., C), Gian Quinoes (Sr., Inf.) and Colby Sims (Jr., RHP).

Honorable Mention
Stanton (18-8), Palatka (24-9), Fernandina Beach (17-11), Keystone Heights (25-7), Middleburg (20-9), Parker (N/A), Fletcher (20-9), Creekside (N/A), Nease (17-12), St. Augustine (N/A), Episcopal (20-11), Bartram Trail (18-9), Arlington Country Day (15-11)