But every so often, Betances flinches when he looks behind home plate and spots the dozens of scouts who have come to watch him pitch, many pointing their radar guns in his direction. They are a reminder that a lot is riding on every ball he throws.

"Most of the time, I just try to ignore that. I just try to see the hitter, the catcher and the mitt," Betances says. "I try to block that out but it still gets in my head."

So far, Betances has handled the pressure well. Last season, the righthander went 6-0 with a 0.17 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 41-2/3 innings for Grand Street Campus in Brooklyn.

But that was then, and for Betances, nothing matters more than what he does now. According to most experts, a good senior season could turn Betances into a first-round selection during baseball's June draft. Some Web sites have him going as high as No. 2 in the draft, so the possibility that he could even be No. 1 is very real.

If Betances is taken in the first round, he would be the first player from the city to be picked that high since Manny Ramirez was taken by the Cleveland Indians as the No. 13 pick in 1991. The first overall pick from the city was Thomas Jefferson's Shawon Dunston, who went to the Chicago Cubs in 1982.

According to one area scout who has seen him pitch many times over the past two years, Betances is a lock for the first round as long as he can consistently keep his blazing heater down in the strike zone this season. Betances' height will make that a challenge. After all, says the scout Betances is only one inch shorter than Randy Johnson, and the Big Unit still struggles with his mechanics because of his size.

"There are so many parts," the scout says of Betances. "So he's still a little uncoordinated right now."

Betances, who turned 18 Thursday, played basketball during his freshman and sophomore years at Grand Street but has given up that sport to concentrate on his promising baseball career. He now spends much of his offseason working on his body and has gained about 20 pounds since last season, getting up to a more durable weight of 215. He's also a regular at the Parisi Speed School in New Jersey, where he works to improve his balance on the mound.

"The last two and a half years he's grown six inches and he hasn't even had a chance to grow into his body yet," says Grand Street coach Melvin Martinez. "That's what the scouts are going crazy about. They think he'll eventually be able to throw a 100 mph fastball in the major leagues."

The PSAL season begins this week but Betances has pitched several times in the preseason and already has been clocked as high as 92 mph despite the cold weather. While Betances' fastball peaked at 97 mph last season - with late movement - the scout says velocity won't necessarily make him a first-rounder unless he learns to spot his pitches better. He's trying to add a cut fastball, a circle changeup and a slider to his repertoire.

"He's got the potential to have three, maybe four major league pitches," says the scout. "But his command is what you'd expect from an 18-year-old."

With Grand Street last season, Betances had two particularly impressive outings, striking out 17 hitters against traditional city power John Adams and throwing a no-hitter against Cardozo, a playoff team. But in the postseason, Betances played a role in Grand Street's semifinal loss to eventual champion Tottenville, coming off the mound to field a bunt and throwing the ball into right field. Two runs scored on that play and Tottenville went on to win, 2-1.

"I thought about that for a week or two," says Betances, who plays for the same Youth Service League team that Ramirez did. "I want to get back to that point."

Though the odds of Betances falling lower than the second round in the draft are slim, he has made up a short list of colleges he'd like to play for just in case. He's taken an official visit to Vanderbilt and would also consider Miami, LSU and Notre Dame.

However, Betances already has brothers Alan and Randy Hendricks - the agents for various major leaguers - working as his consultants since few think he will have to take the college route.