NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Patrick Schuster doesn't have much of a beard to speak of, nonetheless the high school pitcher isn't about to shave the unruly patches of blond whiskers sprouting all over his face while his streak of four consecutive no-hitters is still alive.

The lanky 18-year-old Mitchell High School senior will try to become just the fifth prep player to toss five straight no-hitters Tuesday when he leads his squad into postseason play.

"The scruff is really bad," Schuster admitted after notching no-hitter No. 4 earlier this week, setting a Florida high school record. The national record for consecutive no-hitters is six, Tom Engle is one of two players to hold the record. Chris Taranto of Notre Dame High School in Biloxi, Miss., did it in 1961.

Engle threw six in a row in 1989 in Lancaster, Ohio. Now a 38-year-old producer at ESPN, Engle says it will be more difficult for Schuster to do it because of the national attention.

"I'm from a small town in Ohio, and the media just wasn't there," said Engle, who wasn't even aware he owned the record until a couple years ago. "I think he has a lot more pressure on him now than I ever had."

Engle's advice: "Don't change anything. Don't try and throw a no-hitter. Just pitch your game, and if it comes, it comes."

It's not going to be easy. Mitchell's district of large schools in the Tampa area is considered to be among the state's toughest.

"I know he has the capability of doing it," said Mitchell's senior catcher, Doug Burlett. "We'll just have to see if he gets lucky."

Even if he doesn't, Schuster's stock likely has risen.

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound left-hander is ranked as the 79th best prospect — the 42nd best high school prospect — in the country by Baseball America. Schuster, who has signed with Florida, has a fastball around 90 mph and some nasty breaking stuff delivered with the same slingshot motion. He would likely be a second-round selection in the June amateur draft, said John Manuel, an editor-in-chief at the publication.

When it comes to pitching prospects, Manuel said, major league teams look at attributes such as mechanics, athleticism and arm motion, "things that have nothing to do with the opposing batter." But improbably stringing together four no-hitters at the end of his senior season can't help but improve Schuster's stock.

"I don't think he's a consensus No. 79 guy anymore," Manuel said. "He's probably a little bit better than people thought he was. It's a good bet that he's moved up."

Not surprisingly, Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan hopes Schuster ends up at college. He doesn't think the string of no-hitters and the attention are going to change the pitcher's direction that much.

"I think everybody assumes he's not coming to school because of what's happening, but I don't believe that," O'Sullivan said. "I think he's a great kid from a great family, and obviously we'd like to have him in the program. He'll have some decisions to make."

For now, though, Schuster said he's just trying to have fun as his prep baseball career winds down.

"I'm not going to worry what the draft status is," he said. "I'm going to Florida, or I go play major league baseball. It's a win-win situation."

Schuster has given up just nine hits in 55 innings this season, going 8-0 with 110 strikeouts and helping his team to a 21-3 mark. He has 60 strikeouts in the four-game no-hit streak, which began April 3. The last time he surrendered a hit was March 24.

On Monday night, only a walk, a hit batter and an error kept Schuster from a perfect game.

"You can't really expect something like a no-hitter because it involves a lot of luck," Mitchell coach Scot Wilcox said. "But I'll tell you what, you put together innings like that into a game like that, and luck doesn't have much to do with it."

Schuster insisted he was relaxed throughout the game, despite the national media attention he started getting after the third no-hitter, and being feted at "Patrick Schuster Day" at school. Last week he was interviewed by ESPN alongside Engle.

Around 1,000 spectators had crowded the fence lines and small bleachers around the diamond at the suburban school northwest of Tampa to watch.

After he rung up the last hitter on a called third strike, Schuster raised his arms in triumph and got a bear hug from Burlett before his teammates mobbed him. Reporters and TV cameras gathered around.

His feat was one of the top stories on ESPN's SportsCenter Tuesday morning, and he's been besieged with interview requests from local and national media since then. People are asking for his autograph.

His mother, Sharon, said he's taking it all stride.

"He's either hiding it really well or he's got a lot of composure," his mom said. "I'm really proud of him."