ORANGE PARK - With a sterling pitching performance from senior Jacob Thomas, the St. Johns Country Day School jumped over Clay 4-0 after a week of wins to end March and, thus, put themselves as the top school from the county in the state baseball polls, according to MaxPreps statistics.

At 14-3 and with strength of schedules tabulated to date, the Spartans are at number 11 in the state poll with 7A Stoneman Douglas to the top pic at 17-0 and strength of schedule of 16.0. Second is the IMG Academy at 18-0 as the only two unbeatens in the top 20.

Geographically, St. Johns, tops in Class 2A above The First Academy in Orlando, and Columbia Lake City, at 10, are the two north Florida schools in the mix with Panhandle power Pace in at sixth.

Clay, at 14-4, dropped to 36th with Oakleaf, 15-3, at 41, Fleming Island at 51 at 12-5.

Ridgeview, at 12-5 and with a win over Oakleaf last week, is at 17th in Class 5A and could be a dangerous unnoticed team from the area. Clay is sixth in 5A with Columbia third.

In Class 6A, Oakleaf is just ahead of Fleming Island at sixth with the Golden Eagles 10th.

In 3A, Keystone Heights, with a solid 11-4 record, is 19th in Class 3A with Montverde Academy, 17-1, and Benjamin High, 16-1, at the top. Locally, Trinity Christian, 14-3 with win over Clay, is fourth; Providence, 14-4 with losses to Trinity Christian and St. Johns, has St. Johns again and Clay on April 18 to bolster their schedule. Providence boasts one of the highest strength of schedules in Class 3A at 11.5 behind a host of south Florida schools in the 12-above range.

Week of March 29-April 5 highlights

Spartan coach Tom Lucas only used Thoams for three innings and got three strikeouts, but kept the vaunted Clay bats at bay with solid defense in the field. Thomas also hit an RBI grounder off Clay pitcher Ethan Roberts to give the Spartans an earlhy 2-0 cushion.

In the fourth Isaiah Mamea hit a monster double to the left field fences to score two runs off a walk and a single to put St. Johns up 4-0.

Clay had two baserunners in position; S. Alvers with a double, in the fourth and fifth innings but Spartan pitcer J.D. Hay shut down the scoring attempt.

St. Johns traveled to Clay with a week of wins over Baldwin, Bartram Trail, Providence, Fleming Island, 11-1 and Atlantic Coast.

The Spartans keep the schedule strong with Providence, Trinity Christian and Bishop Kenny on the docket.

Clay, who had a 5-0 loss to Trinity Christian followed by wins over Orange Park, Fleming Island and Yulee, will regroup after St. Johns to face Creekside, Santa Fe, Ridgeview and Providence in the next week.

Ridgeview had a three game losing streak on the line against Oakleaf; losses to Sandalwood, St. Joseph Academy and Fleming Island, 2-0, before taking out Oakleaf at Oakleaf 8-6 to save the week.

Against Fleming Island, with Billy Girgis on the mound, both teams were held scoreless by the good pitching; Wyatt Dietrich for Fleming Island with five strikeouts and just two hits, until the fifth inning where Girgis walked Ben Abrams then gave up a sharp RBI single from Josh Murray to centerfield for the Golden Eagles first run. Murray was later picked off on a second base steal attempt with Ridgeview catcher Clayton Gulbrand rifling to shortstop Tommy Glasspoole.

Fleming Island scored in the seventh with Girgis hitting Anders Chadwell and Shea Thistleton hitting a fielders choice grounder with Chadwell at third.

Oakleaf, who followed a stunning win over St. Johns on March 22 with a Devin Outlaw dinger, kept rolling with wins over the likes of Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Flagler Palm Coast and Union County before getting stuck with two losses; Fernandina Beach 9-5 and Ridgeview 8-6.

Oakleaf was down 4-0 to Ridgeview into the fifth off a handful of timely singles by the Panthers and a double from Douglas Langley as Oakleaf pitcher Jordan Clarke struggled to keep the bases clear with singles and hitting batters in the box.

Oakleaf's defensive highlight came on an outfield fly tracked down by centerfielder Nolan Cameron who shot a laser to home plate to nail Ridgeview's Cody Holland tagging up from third.

Oakleaf got the bases loaded in the fourth but Ridgeview pitcher Connor Howell kept them on base with two strikeouts and a groundout.

Keystone Heights went 2-2 for the week with losses to Newberry and Union County to end March followed by wins over Bradford and Baker County to start April.

Against Baker County (13-5), Keystone Heights got seven strikeouts from starter Benjamin Goforth and reliever Ross Jones to quiet the Wildcats bats.

Middleburg, 3-11, exploded for a two wins over Crescent City; 12-7, before losing a 5-1 lead in the fourth to four runs in the fifth and a gamewinner in the sixth off a sacrifice bunt from Clay batter Chase Haggard scored Josh Rouw who singled and moved to third on an error.

Orange Park halted a 10 game losing streak with an 8-3 win over First Coast on April 5.