Mounds Of Talent

MATT HARVEY'S chief competition to be the top high school player taken in baseball's amateur draft is someone he has much in common with: righthander Rick Porcello (right) of Seton Hall Prep ( West Orange, N.J.). Porcello, at 6'5" and 205 pounds, also throws in the mid-90s and has given a commitment to North Carolina. And scouts monitor his every toss—26 came to a recent scrimmage. "It's an honor to have people come, but sometimes I have to step off the mound and think of how surreal the setting is," says Porcello, who went 6--0 last year with an 0.30 ERA.

His Pirates, the nation's top-ranked team, are aiming for their third straight state championship. The title game will be on June 9; the major league baseball draft begins on June 7. "No one knows what will happen with the draft," Porcello says. "We're just playing high school baseball for now."