Growing Up Fast

FITCH HIGH
Groton , Conn.

DON'T ROLL your eyes when Ed Harvey says his son, Matt, is the most gifted player he's worked with in his 34 years of coaching baseball at Fitch High School in Groton , Conn. He may sound like a slightly deluded parent, but if anything, the 56-year-old Harvey may be being a bit modest. Matt, who is Baseball America 's top-ranked high school player in the country, has major league insiders buzzing that he's the most talented pitcher the state has ever produced. Two weekends ago scouts from 22 major league teams endured a 30� chill at the Fitch fields to watch the righthanded senior pitch in a scrimmage. "This kid looks like he could be in the majors today," says one of those scouts. "His fastball regularly hits the mid-90s; his curveball is downright sick. When it's on, he's unhittable."

Matt was six when his mother, Jackie, a second-grade teacher in Groton , began dropping him off after school at Ed's practices. At eight Matt, who has two older sisters, was taking part in the team's infield drills and batting practices; by the time he was 16, his fastball had been clocked in the mid-90s. In 2005 Matt helped lead Fitch to a state championship—the school's third under Ed. "I've never had a pitching coach except for my dad," says Matt, who's added 37 pounds of muscle since hiring a personal trainer a year and a half ago. (He stands 6'4" and weighs 210 pounds.) "Ever since I can remember, he was always correcting the way I threw. I owe him everything."

Matt, whose Falcons opened their season last weekend, started attracting serious national attention after a dazzling junior year in which he went 5--0 with an 0.82 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 43 innings. Last fall he signed a letter of intent to go to North Carolina , but he is projected to be a top 10 pick in June's major league baseball draft. He has already been approached by superagent Scott Boras, who rarely represents high schoolers. "It'd be hard to turn down North Carolina ," says Harvey, "but if the opportunity is there where I can be 21 years old and pitching in a major league park, that'd be a dream come true."