On the A field fence at Munster Babe Ruth's home, a sign reads "Lightning Warning" in silver block letters.

It's fitting that Stefano Belmonte is a few steps away with a bat in his hands.

On a hot July Tuesday afternoon, he strikes.

Without much of a warm-up, he hits consecutive balls to the fence on one hop and then one that lands 340 feet from home plate, well over the "Got ink?" sign in left-center field.

Belmonte already has received plenty of ink, but he's just getting started.

He has hit home runs and struck out batters in tournaments in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee and Nebraska.

He's thrown a no-hitter in a state tourney game, won a state title and most recently, with the help of his mom, put himself on YouTube hitting a pair of home runs that traveled professional distances.

And he's not even in high school yet. He's 14 years old, 6 feet tall and 185 pounds.

For yet another summer the Munster resident and former Dyer standout is dominating, and his thick, curly hair is the attribute garnering the least attention at ballparks near and far.

A slugger and a pitcher, Belmonte will have played for four teams by summer's end. The amount of heads he'll turn will be innumerable.

Teammates on his main squad, Victory Black out of Joliet, call him Stefa-Neo after the hero of "The Matrix" trilogy, Neo. In the movie, Neo (played by Keeanu Reeves) is referenced in legends as "The One."

"It's kind of funny, because I think it's pretty cool, but other teams think it's a girl's name they're calling me," Belmonte said.

But no one is mocking Stefa-Neo when he's on the mound.

Not when he throws a curveball, a changeup, a four-seam fastball and a two-seamer. Not when his fastball hits 83 mph. Not when he enters a game with no outs and the bases loaded on his off day from pitching and fans three consecutive batters.

No, that's when people start to wonder what it takes to be so good yet so young.

Ask Stefano, and he'll credit his father, Tony, with motivating him to be great.

Ask Tony, and he charges two men with his son's development.

Tom Donovan met the Belmontes when Stefano was 9. A diligent instructor, Donovan gave Belmonte weekly hitting and pitching lessons from that point until earlier this year when he retired after decades of work with local youngsters.

"All I did was give him the information," Donovan said. "What he did with it was great.

"He works his butt off. At 14 he can tell you more about his swing than most 18-year-olds can."

With Donovan, the right-hander took backhand swings using only his left arm. Balancing on boards helped him learn to channel power and consistency from his lower half.

With the technical aspects of his game honed, Belmonte had to learn to execute with confidence.

Enter Mike Burvan, Belmonte's manager from the age of 9 to 12 with the Dyer Dirt Dawgs, a group of traveling All-Stars that played together in addition to a regular-season slate with their respective teams.

Belmonte hit at least .600 every season as the Dirt Dawgs won more than 100 games and lost less than 10. A technicality and ensuing controversy at state is all that prevented Dyer from a trip to Williamsport in 2006.

Despite missing substantial time as a 10-year-old with a fractured bone in his elbow, Belmonte began his pitching career 32-0, including a victory in the Little League (Age 11) state championship game. At age 12 he struck out 60 hitters in 29 innings.

He went on hitting rampages, including one stretch of nine plate appearances with eight home runs and a walk. He hit 275-foot home runs in a park with 200-foot fences. In 2006 children from the lower leagues crowded in the outfield to chase one of his 24 jacks or one of the 36 shots he hit during a home run derby win. They asked for autographs.

"(Burvan) instilled an unbreakable determination in Stefano," Tony said. "Burvan's confidence in Stefano grew on Stefano."

That confidence has carried into the past two seasons with Victory Black. Belmonte had an .843 slugging percentage this season and helped the team win a national tournament in Omaha. Neb. Two of his home runs in the Battle of the South tourney in Knoxville, Tenn., are on YouTube.

"I thought it was pretty cool, because I hit two home runs in two games over big fences," Belmonte said. "People didn't believe me that someone my age could hit over a fence that was 368 feet."

Now he's doing damage closer to his Munster home, where he's been since last July. He recently helped Munster Black win the Babe Ruth (14) District 2 championship and advance to this weekend's state tourney in Noblesville.

"He gives us the ability to win any game against any opponent on the mound, and he's half a man, half a horse when it comes to swinging a bat," Munster Black manager Ed Becher said. "He's a great kid to be around."

Belmonte is happy to be on a juggernaut local All-Star team again.

"I just love baseball. I want to play whenever I can. I don't want to take time off," he said. "And we should go all the way if we play like we should."

Belmonte's weekend in a Munster uniform is likely to be among his last.

With a scholarship offer from the school and plenty of attention from coach Mike Zunica, an avid follower of Victory Black, he'll attend St. Rita in Chicago in the fall. He scored a 95 on the entrance exam for an academic scholarship and chose the more distant Mustangs over his hometown 'Stangs and Mt. Carmel.

He's recently begun to contemplate the possibility of a professional baseball career and knows it won't be easy.

"I think about it a lot," he said. "I want to be like Albert Pujols. I try to make my swing like his, or pretty close."

Donovan is confident in his former pupil.

"I think of anybody that I've ever had the privilege and opportunity to work with, he is the kid that has the best opportunity to play on TV," Donovan said.

His dad is cognizant of reality, but not discounting anything.

"It's a lotto, and there's a lot of talent around," Tony said. "But I'm not going to rain on anyone's parade. It's all about work ethic, and right now Stefano has all the tools."