One quick search of "Stefano Belmonte" on YouTube brings up an impressive wealth of baseball talent and a remarkable display of power hitting.
Clicking on the first video takes viewers to U.S. Cellular Field on April 27, where the public address announcer boldly states Belmonte's name before he comes up to bat. He wisely takes a chest-high pitch for ball one before readjusting his stance.
"He bats like Carlos Quentin," a fan says about his slightly open batting stance.
Belmonte then effortlessly crushes the second pitch, a waist-high fastball, to straightaway center field -- more than 400 feet -- for a home run.
"It was pretty awesome to hit one out because it's such a big ballpark," Belmonte said this week.
Belmonte is not an up-and-coming star for the White Sox; he is a standout third baseman for St. Rita High School on Chicago's southwest side. However, he lives in Munster.
As a sophomore at St. Rita this spring, he hit .375 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs. His career stats are a .428 clip, 24 homers and 90 RBIs. He's continued putting up numbers this summer on the travel circuit.
Perfect Game USA's Player Rating System ranks Belmonte a 9 out of 10 -- a future potential top 10 MLB draft pick and a top NCAA Division I prospect, according to their system. He's currently ranked the 12th best prep baseball player in Illinois by Illinois Prep Report.
With these accomplishments likely being just the tip of the iceberg for a 16-year-old kid who is nowhere near his prime, one would think it could be very easy for Belmonte to let everything go to his head.
The old adage, "speak softly and carry a big stick" may be a fitting description for Belmonte. However, he deflects all praise off him and directs it at his father, Tony.
"The accolades are fine, but he's the one putting in the hard work," Tony quickly responds.
Tony helps Stefano realize how fortunate he is. The two are members of Bo Jackson's Elite Sports Complex in Lockport, Ill., where Stefano is able to train year-round. Stefano said he and his father head to the complex five times per week to practice.
The two also volunteer their time, as the facility takes underprivileged children and holds baseball tournaments twice per year with necessary equipment and food provided.
"We help out a little bit, to just guide them," Stefano said. "It's great seeing them happy and just playing baseball. It's pretty awesome."
Though the NCAA prohibits coaches from open conversation with athletes until Sept. 1 of their junior year of high school, that hasn't stopped several major conference schools from sending questionnaires to Belmonte.
Mail from Kansas, Michigan, Arizona, Kentucky and Louisville were just a few of the documents neatly arranged on the Belmontes' kitchen table. Other online questionnaires have come from Stanford and Harvard.
"It's pretty awesome, but my dad does all the work," Stefano said. "It's like he's my agent. I love getting letters and seeing who's interested."
The rapid development into one of the best prep players in Illinois wouldn't have come without an extreme dedication to playing travel baseball nearly all 12 months of the year. Stefano has played in Florida, California, Nebraska, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona. He's rarely home during the summer -- finding it almost necessary to travel far and wide to perfect his game against many different types of pitching styles. He's played games at The Cell, Tampa's Tropicana Field and at least 10 college ballparks.
"I've been traveling pretty much the whole summer," he said. "I like it a lot. It helps a lot (with development). There's so much good talent out there."
Though Stefano chose to develop his game at St. Rita rather than playing for Munster, Tony acknowledged his son's ever-improving skill set still has a lot to do with growing up in the Region.
"There is a lot of good talent out here, and he played travel ball here significantly," Tony said. "The community develops a lot of talent, and that's what's impressive. This is a good pocket of communities, and I believe part of Stefano's success is being fortunate enough to live in Northwest Indiana, because it has such a huge tradition of baseball. We're thankful for being here."
With aspirations to play baseball professionally after college, Belmonte received a head start with the help of a former major league player Hal Morris -- also a Munster resident. At a camp at the Bulls/Sox Training Academy at Omni 41 Health and Fitness Connection in Schererville a year ago, Morris, a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, noticed Stefano's talent and started working with him personally on his own time.
"I'm fortunate," Stefano said. "He was a great pro, and him teaching me helped me out a lot, actually."
