And the hits just keep on coming.

Again and again the ball bangs off his bat, belting out another base hit.

He's not big (5-foot-9). He's not brawny (an almost scrawny 155 pounds). But, boy is he brash with a baseball bat in his hands.

Jimmy Gilmore was born to hit.

Heading into his senior year at Mansfield High School, Gilmore has been an eye-opening, pitcher-testing, base-taking hitting machine. "I see the ball well and I wait for the fastball," grinned Gilmore the other day before taking the field for the Foxboro American Legion Post 93 baseball team, his summer baseball school session - for whom he continues to have good at-bats, contributing to the squad's seven-game unbeaten skein in one stretch and 10 wins overall.

Gilmore's numbers are gaudy.

As a sophomore, usually batting in the No. 7, 8 or 9 spots of the order for the Hornets, he batted at a .400 rate - not bad for his first official varsity season.

This past spring, the Hornet junior was downright dangerous in the batter's box - hitting at a .420 rate with 37 hits. That was impressive enough, but how about Gilmore having power numbers like a team-best 31 runs batted in and only four strikeouts in 88 at bats, usually in the cleanup, No. 4 spot of the order.

"Maybe it's because I'm using Tom Savageau's bat," chuckled Gilmore of the 33-inch, 30-ounce "Redline" model that he takes with him to the plate to challenge pitchers. "Really, I just hit what I can handle."

Gilmore is gaining notoriety for his uncanny success in hitting the baseball. He has power numbers for a small physical package, 12 of his hits were doubles, he achieved a .436 on-base percentage, a .591 slugging percentage.

If that isn't impressive enough, how about Gilmore having a 15-game hitting streak (yikes!), a prime power source for the Mansfield High baseball team, which won 13 regular season games and advanced to the semifinal round of the MIAA Division 1 South Sectional Tournament.

He had an RBI-single in that Final Four game against Boston College High. He had a single in a one-run win over Framingham in the quarterfinals, an RBI-single in a first round win over Brockton.

And before that, Gilmore had a three-hit, three-RBI performance at the plate against North Attleboro, a 5-for-5 at-bat production against Canton.

He had three hits, including a homer just the other night in a Legion game against Franklin. "He's a pure hitter," chimed in Mansfield High baseball coach Tim Graham of Gilmore. "He's not pretty, but whatever you throw at him, he'll hit it - he's an RBI machine."

And Gilmore is one of the best wrestlers in the Commonwealth too, an MIAA Division 2 South Sectional Tournament finalist in the 152-pound division this past winter, on his way toward 100 career wins, one of the greatest of the great Hornet matmen.

When he's not putting his opponent's shoulders to the mat during the winter, he might otherwise be spending a Sunday afternoon in the batting cages at the RBI Academy. "I usually go whenever I can, but I start going a lot on weekends in February," said Gilmore of his fine-tuning his swing. "I'll do a lot of short toss stuff, soft toss, you want to get that feel for the bat in your hands."

Gilmore admits that the intensity of the two-minute rounds on the wrestling mat help prepare his mental concentration for standing in the batter's box, awaiting a fastball or breaking ball from a pitcher in the spring. "It helps a lot with my physical conditioning too," said the Hornet.

"I'm in such good shape coming off the winter wrestling season. A lot of my core training for baseball is because I wrestle. The training, the practice sessions for wrestling, after that you feel like anything else is easier."

Gilmore has played at the shortstop position for Mansfield High, but was moved over to second base for the Foxboro American Legion team. And next season, Gilmore might likely be stationed in left field for the Hornets as Graham intends to groom him for what may be his best spot as a collegian.

"It's been kind of a breakout season for me," said Gilmore of the attention he has been receiving, the praise from opposing coaches, his ever-growing reputation among his peers.

Gilmore is currently batting in the No. 2 spot of the order for Foxboro, "so I can either move the baserunner along or get on base myself. I seem to hit better with guys on base."

Gilmore is not looking for a free pass to first base and he's a tough out. "I don't get many breaking ball strikes," he said of pitchers being unable to nick the plate. "I let those go by and I'll just wait for a fastball. Most of the time, I pick up on what the pitcher is throwing quickly.

"I like to jump on the first pitch that looks good, I'm up there swinging. If a pitcher can't get his breaking ball over, then he's going to throw a fastball - and usually those are down the middle because he wants to get a strike."

Graham, who had a roster of power producers this spring at Mansfield High, often watches Gilmore in awe, letting him be the judge of when to swing. "He's that much a contact hitter," said Graham, "a contact hitter with pop in his bat."

Gilmore is swinging away, "when I get two strikes on me, I'll swing at everything close." That explains him not walking back to the bench dejectedly very often. "I don't wait to swing, to get a hit and get on base. Even if I'm down 0-2 (count), even if it's a bad pitch, I'm swinging, I don't want to strike out looking."

In turn, everyone is looking at Gilmore. "That's the thing about hitting," said the Hornet. "Once that you get confident at the plate, you're swinging the bat good, you get more confident the next time that you're in the batters box. You keep it going."

PETER GOBIS can be reached at 508-236-0375 or at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com.