1. Jesuit (21-1)
Jesuit’s Jake Kulikowski.
Make it 17-in-a-row for the Tigers, outscoring Jefferson, Calvary Christian and Berkeley Prep by a combine 28-3 last week. Jesuit’s pitching staff struck out 33 last week, with senior Dominic Castellano striking out 15 against Calvary Christian. Sophomore Jake Kulikowski has five home runs on the season, and had an RBI single and double in the win over the Bucs (click here for our coverage). [Last Week: No. 1]
This week: Mon, 4/19 v Blake; Tues, 4/20 at IMG Academy; Fri, 4/23 v Hialeah Champagnat Catholic
2. Bloomingdale (16-5)
Bloomingdale’s Makye Hayes.
Bloomingdale got a big night offensively from Makye Hayes, who homered and drove in six against Blake to start the week, and won its seventh-straight with a seventh-inning RBI single by Gabe Garrett to top Plant, 2-1. [LW: No. 2]
This week: Tues, 4/20 at Lennard; Thurs, 4/22 v Alonso
3. Wharton (17-4)
The Wildcats got back in the win column dispatching Palm Harbor via mercy-rule, and retaining New Tampa bragging rights by topping Freedom as Elijah Dukes and Zach Ehrhard homered twice, and Dylan McDonald homered and reached the 30-hit mark for the year. [LW: No. 4]
This week: Tues, 4/20 at Tampa Bay Tech; Thurs, 4/22 v Strawberry Crest
4. Durant (17-4)
The Cougars rounded out district play with a 1-0 win against Newsome with Sean Hermann striking out 11, handily beat Armwood, and topped Steinbrenner behind Zander Fisk’s shutout performance. Durant will host East Bay on Tuesday, looking to make it 12-0 at home on the season. [LW: No. 5]
This week: Tues, 4/20 v East Bay
5. Berkeley Prep (18-4)
The Buccaneers won a tight battle with Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic, wrapped regular-season district play with a decisive win against Tampa Catholic, and fell to Jesuit in a three-game week. Seniors Johnathan Bruno and Andrew DiMisa, along with sophomore Cade Kurland have each eclipsed the 25-hit mark, and each have double-digit runs and RBI totals. [LW: No. 3]
This week: Tues, 4/20 v Steinbrenner; Thurs, 4/22 v Hillsborough
6. East Bay (15-6)
The Indians have won four-in-a-row, topping Robinson on the road and defeating Newsome at home last week. Against the Knights, Hans Walker had three hits and drove in a pair, while Tanner Elizondo pitched five scoreless innings; and we covered the win against the Wolves (catch up on that one by clicking here). [LW: No. 8]
This week: Tues, 4/20 at Durant; Thurs, 4/22 at Plant
7. Strawberry Crest (15-8)
The Chargers wrapped up a successful regular season run in 6A-8 defeating TBT last week, stumbled a bit in a 3-1 loss to Alonso, but finished the week with a win at Hillsborough (click here for our game story). Leadoff man, Colby Fanning leads the state with 38 hits, while also scoring 28 times to lead Crest. [LW: No. 6]
This week: Thurs, 4/22 at Wharton
8. Seffner Christian (14-4-1)
The Crusaders get a bump via everyone else’s attrition with no games last week. Seffner Christian will have home games against Keswick Christian (Mon, 4/19) and IMG Silver (Fri, 4/23) as a gear-up for district play. [LW: No. 11]
9. Plant City (13-8)
Plant City P Chase Mobley.
The Raiders shook off two losses in Wk. 8, with a pair of district, mercy-rule wins against Armwood and TB Tech. A pair of young pitchers shined as sophomore Preston Rogers held the Hawks to three hits and fanned eight, and freshman Chase Mobley struck out four and allowed one Titans hit over three innings. [LW: T-No. 12]
This week: Tues, 4/20 at Robinson; Thurs, 4/22 at Newsome
10. Gaither (11-10)
Gaither senior AJ Graham.
Winners of five straight, the Cowboys seem to be coming together at the right moment. Senior AJ Graham doubled and homered, driving in three in a win against Middleton, while Colin Jackson, CJ Hanson and Ben Vazquez combined to strikeout 11 in a win we covered (click here) over Robinson. [LW: Not Ranked]
This week: Tues, 4/20 v Chamberlain; Thurs, 4/22 at Freedom
On the bubble:
11. Sickles (13-8) [LW: No. 7]
12. Foundation Christian (13-4) [LW: No. 15]
13. Bell Creek (11-6) [LW: NR]
14. Alonso (12-9) [LW: NR]
15. Leto (13-8) [LW: T-No. 12]
Dropping out this week: Newsome (12-9) [LW: No. 9]; Jefferson (12-9) [LW: No. 10]; Hillsborough (15-8) [LW: No. 14].
