The scouts flocked to Fort Payne, Ala., early in the 2009 high school baseball season, wanting to get a closer look at right-handed pitcher Slade Smith.

Chances are they were wasting their time. Smith signed with Auburn last fall and seems intent on following through with that decision.

“There were a bunch of scouts here early. I think now they know he’s pretty set on going to Auburn,” Fort Payne coach Johnny Johnson said.

“From where I’m projected, it’s a little too far to make that jump,” said Smith, a 6-foot-2, 185-pounder who this year recorded 90 strikeouts and a 1.77 earned run average in going 7-1.

Before he signed with Auburn, Smith was projected to be picked from the fourth to the eighth rounds. Once he signed, the projections dropped.

“Last I saw, he’s projected between the seventh and 10th rounds. I don’t think that will tempt him,” Johnson said.

Smith has established a comfort zone with Auburn, where his father was a backup to quarterback Pat Sullivan.

“At Auburn I know what I’m going to get. I know the coaches very, very well and I’m comfortable with them. I know the program and the atmosphere,” Smith said. “Pro ball is an unknown. I don’t know where I’d be going or who I’d be going with. It’s exciting but it is a little uncomfortable. The big difference is being comfortable in knowing Auburn and not knowing where I would be in pro ball.”

His mind was more at ease when the scouts began showing up less, but then he got a text message from the San Francisco Giants.

“There was a while when I wasn’t talking to anybody and I thought it was over, but then the Giants called and asked enough questions to where I was thinking I was back in the mix,” he said.

“I guess there is a far outside chance of his signing, of somebody surprising us,” Johnson said, “and after talking rounds and money you never know. If he was taken low and offered high-round money, his decision might change. He has decided to go to Auburn, and if something like that happens, he’ll decide when it comes.”

Smith is a three-pitch pitcher with a fastball in the upper 80s and low 90s (mph), but Johnson emphasized that his ace doesn’t just go to the mound and throw.

“He’s got a good curveball and changeup. He’s not just a hard thrower,” the coach said. “Slade is a kid that’s going to do the right thing on and off the field. He works as hard as anybody I have ever had.”

Smith has no special plans between now and Thursday. He doesn’t plan to sit by the phone, though.

“I probably am just going to relax,” he said. “I don’t have a whole lot of expectations. I’m taking advantage of my last summer before starting college or pro ball, but I’ll probably be on a baseball field. If I get a phone call, I’ll be happy to take it.”