JUPITER, Fla. – As an outsider looking in, it sure seems like there are a lot of things out there that could become a distraction to Dillon Howard.

Or, at the very least, enough things on his mind to make the high school senior froom Searcy, Ark., lose his focus from time-to-time.

Things like selecting a college he may want to attend next fall. Howard said he still plans to commit to a college after he takes a few more official visits in the coming weeks, but wouldn’t reveal any finalists.

“No, I’m going to kind of keep that to myself,” he said.

Or what about next spring’s 2011 Major League Draft? Perfect Game has Howard, a 6-2, 200-pound right-handed pitcher whose fastball reached 95 mph, projected to be a first-round pick and the No. 20 selection overall. He is projected as the eighth high school senior (2011) to be picked.

“I don’t think about that a whole lot,” Howard said. “That process will play itself out, and outside of pitching, I don’t have a whole lot of control over a lot of that stuff. So no, I don’t stress about it a lot.”

And then there the more immediate distractions.

Dillon is at the Roger Dean Complex this weekend competing in the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship for the Midland Redskins/Royals Scout Team.

He pitched the first three scoreless innings of the Redskins 4-2 loss to Homeplate Chilidogs Saturday afternoon. He was not the Redskins’ pitcher of record after giving up only one hit and one walk while striking out three.

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of his performance was the sight of more than 100 scouts and coaches sitting in golf carts behind home plate and down both foul lines, all there to watch Howard pitch.

Howard must have been the only person in attendance who  didn’t seem to notice the hoard.

“Those people don’t affect me,” Howard said. “Nothing outside of the lines really gets in my head and I’m going to try to keep it that way.”

Among the spectators standing behind the scouts was Howard’s mother, Angie Howard. She said that after watching her son work so hard to make it to the biggest of stages, she really wasn’t all that surprised too see him there. In fact, she sort of expected it.

“Yes and no. Actually, I’d have to say yes,” Angie said of that expectation. “It was clear from an early age that he had a gift, and I’m one of those people that if you don’t dream it, if you don’t believe in it, it’s not going to come through. It’s not that we set anything like this as a goal, but I’ve always believed in him and he believes in himself and he works hard.

“It’s just a lot of fun to see this many people want to watch him pitch a baseball.”

A lot of people who count have already watched Howard pitch a baseball, and he’s left an impression. Howard is No. 5 in the Perfect Game 2011 national prospect rankings and No. 1 in the state of Arkansas. He has played in numerous Perfect Game national events, the Aflac All-American Classic and the Connie Mack World Series.

And now the WWBA World Championship.

“He’s been playing baseball since he was 3-years-old and he looked forward to a day like this, but he just enjoys the game,” Angie said. “He loves to play baseball and this (big stage) is just kind of secondary to what he loves to do.”

She said he played football in seventh and eighth grade and played basketball through ninth grade.

“He played tennis for two or three years and he’s a pretty good golfer, but everything else is recreational. This is the only competitive thing he plays,” Angie said.

Like just about everything else, Howard seems to take his participation in the World Championship in stride.

“It’s a great experience,” Howard said. “You get to come down here and play in front of college (coaches) and pro scouts and it definitely boosts the adrenaline, but at the end of the day it’s just baseball. Just baseball. It’s just a fun game.”

Howard did get excited about playing in the Aflac All-American Classic, an event held in San Diego in mid-August that featured 38 of the nation’s top high school players.

“It was a great experience,” Howard said. “Everybody there treats you great and you get to be around a bunch  of great athletes and bond with them a little bit and just kind of get to know those guys.”

And there was the Connie Mack World in Farmington, N.M., in early August that the Midland Redskins won for the second straight year and 13^th time overall. Howard was one of four pitchers named to the All-Tournament Team.

“It’s the best baseball memory that I’ve encountered so far,” Howard said emphatically.

The Midland Redskins/Royals Scout Team stumbled to a 1-1-1 start after winning their opener Friday, and a 3-3 tie with the On Deck O’s and the loss to Homeplate Chilidogs on Saturday. They play the PG Crimson Bandits in their final pool game Sunday at 10:20  a.m. (ET).

Once the World Championship is history, Howard can look forward to his final high school season at Searcy High School in the spring, and then begin to really look toward what should be a promising future.

Not that Dillon and Angie Howard will spend a lot of time on contemplation.

“I’ll answer  it the way he answers it: ‘After this ballgame we’re going to get something to eat,’” Angie said with a laugh on Saturday. “We just take it a day at a time. Whatever he decides to do, whether it’s to play college ball or go in the draft, we’re just going to see how the story unfolds … and just enjoy the process as much as we can.”