The fans who went to a Marietta High School baseball game this spring likely saw two things they were likely to remember for a long time: the play of center fielder Chevez Clarke and the large number of major league scouts that were there to see him.

Though the Blue Devils struggled to an 11-14 record, Clarke, a 5-foot-11, 186-pound Georgia Tech signee, shined during his senior season, batting .403 as a switch-hitter with five home runs, 14 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases. On defense, he patrolled the outfield and used his speed to track down balls in the gap and dared runners to test his arm trying for an extra base.

That's why, as a genuine five-tool prospect, Clarke is listed by Baseball America as the No. 8 prospect in the state of Georgia - No. 97 nationwide - and is expected to go in the early rounds of Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft.

"I've coached a first-rounder and a second-rounder in summer ball before, and some other lower-round picks," Marietta coach Chris Stafford said. "But no other player has ever garnered this kind of attention."

The baseball ability should have come as no surprise to Clarke. His uncle, Sam Hairston, played with the Chicago White Sox and he is a distant relative of Scott and Jerry Hairston, who are both currently in the big leagues with the San Diego Padres. But it wasn't until after his sophomore year when Clarke started to believe he might have the chance to join his relatives in the big leagues.

"I went down to a tournament in Jupiter, Fla." Clarke said of the Bo Jackson Five-Tool Showcase. "I had a really good week and people started to come and take a look at me. It was after that when I started getting a lot of serious looks."

The scouting reports say Clarke has good bat speed, but teams that consider drafting him will have to make sure he can hit for a high average because, despite showing raw power, the scouts don't consider him a consistent home run threat. Clarke said he has been working on that, and his patience at the plate.

"One thing I really have been working on is hitting the fastball right down the middle," he joked Friday. "You know how you see it coming and your eyes get all big and you want to hit it out of the park? And then (you get overanxious) and pop it up."

The added patience will likely improve not only his hitting eye, but those power numbers as well.

Stafford said the information he has gotten from the scouts is that Clarke will be selected within the first three rounds of the draft. But for those teams with more than one first-round pick Monday, they may go ahead and take him and not gamble that Clarke is still there in Rounds 2 or 3.

Stafford said Clarke matured greatly during his senior year and has the necessary work ethic he would need to play pro ball.

"He wants it," Stafford said. "He's one of these kids that could really make it."

Clarke gave the impression that he will sign with a major league club, if he is drafted early, but if the rounds start to go by, he will honor his commitment to the Yellow Jackets.

"The later the draft goes, the less the opportunity you have," Clarke said. "You really have to look at the team that drafts you."

The teams that have been the most interested to this point are the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies and the hometown Atlanta Braves.

Over the last few years, the Braves have done very well scouting the local talent (Jason Heyward, Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur), so it would not be a shock if Atlanta picked Clarke. But if the Braves do so, it would have to be in the second round or later since the club does not own a first-round pick in the 2010 draft.

Clarke said he would love an opportunity to play in his hometown, but already understands that baseball at this level is a business.

"I've always been a hometown guy," he said. "When you are younger, you have a preference and would always like to play at home, but at this point, all you want to do is play baseball. All you want is to have an opportunity."

If the Braves can't have him, Clarke said he hopes one of Atlanta's biggest rivals can.

"I'd love to play with Jimmy Rollins," he said of Philadelphia's All-Star shortstop. "We have a lot of similar characteristics with our setup and how we play."