Outfielder’s Pitching Debut Is Almost Perfect : Baseball: Bell’s Temo Lopez, who is also the Eagles’ lead-off man, hurls a 5-0 no-hitter against Garfield.

If Temo Lopez ever wondered whether he should be playing in the outfield or on the mound, a possible answer came in a big way last week.

Pitching in his first varsity game, the Bell senior threw a no-hitter against Garfield.

Lopez, who retired 21 of the 23 batters he faced, was two walks away from a perfect game in the Eagles’ 5-0 win.

The no-hitter was the first by a Bell pitcher since Larry Gayton accomplished the feat, also 5-0 against Garfield, in 1993.

Lopez, who started in center field all of last season, didn’t do too badly at that spot either, hitting .382 with 13 stolen bases as the lead-off hitter.

This season, even when Lopez pitches, he still leads off.

“He is a big part of our offense,” Santiago said.

Lopez, a right-hander, did pitch as a member of the junior varsity team two years ago. But last season, Lopez couldn’t crack the starting rotation, which featured Yamel Delgado--the 1994 City Times’ player of the year--and John Moreno-Orozco, who already this season has tossed consecutive one-hit shutouts.

“I like pitching and I like (playing) center field,” Lopez said. “I get the same butterflies.”

Lopez showed no indication of being nervous on the mound; in fact, he became angry when his teammates began to break his focus. “They kept reminding me that Garfield didn’t have a hit, and I got mad because I didn’t want to know,” said the 17-year-old. “I was just trying to get the win.”

Lopez credited his teammates for playing “solid ball” behind him.

Bell (9-1) has lost only once this season, and Lopez and Moreno-Orozco are largely responsible.

“Our pitching staff is even better than it was last season,” said Bell Coach Henry Santiago. “Moreno-Orozco is already in midseason form, and Lopez is pitching great.”

After making such a dramatic first impression, Lopez can expect teams to be ready for him the second time around. Santiago, though, doesn’t seemed to be worried.

“Lopez has good control, an excellent breaking ball and is very competitive,” Santiago said. “He is one of the hotter pitchers we have.”

Other baseball highlights:

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Moreno-Orozco pitched his second consecutive one-hitter, striking out eight batters in Bell’s 3-1 win over Huntington Park on Tuesday . . . Bell pitcher Raymond Carrazco struck out 14 and threw a one-hitter against Jordan in an 11-0 win Thursday . . . Hector Arroyo and Felipe Sarrantos each had two hits to lead Lincoln to a 13-4 win over Verdugo Hills . . . Jefferson pitcher Marvin Morris had 10 strikeouts in a 13-0 win over Locke . . .

Pitcher Isaac Hernandez struck out eight batters while improving his record to 3-1 as Roosevelt defeated Garfield, 4-1 . . . Loyola’s Scott Walter, who is batting .420 for the season, drove in his 10th run, but the Cubs lost, 6-3, to Alemany in a Mission League game Tuesday . . . Pitcher Ben Gonzalez pitched a complete game and gave up three earned runs but Bell Gardens lost to Alhambra in an Almont League game, 5-1, on Tuesday.