Bell Is Recipient of Ringing Endorsement

More than 30 professional baseball scouts aimed radar guns at pitcher Trevor Bell of Crescenta Valley last week, causing friends to wonder whether Bell felt like Captain Kirk facing off against the Klingons in an episode of “Star Trek.”

Bell was getting zapped by scouts who were trying to confirm he was throwing his fastball 94 mph. After he struck out 13 Glendale Hoover batters in seven innings with no walks, everyone knew his velocity was no illusion.

“He’s been lights out,” Coach Phil Torres said.

Bell had a perfect game for six innings. Of his 86 pitches, 65 were strikes. He had 28 strikeouts in 16 innings going into Friday’s Pacific League showdown against host Arcadia.

There are some high school pitchers who would be intimidated seeing so many radar guns pointed in their direction. Others might try to throw harder just to impress.

Bell, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior right-hander, knows the drill.

“I notice them,” he said, “but it’s kind of like a bunch of fans doing their thing. It’s not a big deal to me. It is what it is. I just pitch.”

Bell is used to the attention. He entered high school tabbed by Baseball America magazine as the top 14-year-old in the nation. He had talent, but he had a long way to go before he could achieve a high level of consistency.

“You had this 22-year-old body and 22-year-old ability and this 16-year-old boy,” Torres said. “You’d see the athletic ability and you’d want the maturing process then.”

Bell has finally matured into the player many predicted. He’s focused, healthy and certain of what he wants.

“This year, I’ve matured a lot as a player, turning a little bit into a man, and realizing certain things have to happen for me to keep playing baseball,” he said. “I’ll do anything to make it happen.”

As a pitcher, his combination of a 94-mph fastball and improving curveball make him a prime target for the June draft. But he’s also an excellent hitter (he batted .465 last season) with speed.

He offers the same challenge to scouts that Trevor Plouffe of Encino Crespi did last season. Plouffe ended up a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins and gave up pitching to become a shortstop.

Is Bell a pitcher or a position player?

“Right now, I don’t care,” he said. “It’s either way for me. I like to hit and play center field, and I like to be an all-around athlete. That decision will come a little bit later.”

Bell had to stop pitching briefly during his sophomore season because of a sore shoulder. He said there have been no lingering effects.

“I’m 100%,” he said. “My arm is perfectly fine, and I’m in the best shape I’ve been. I’m getting ready to play ball the rest of my life.”

Bell wasn’t the only pitcher off to a stellar start heading into the weekend.

Anaheim Esperanza and Riverside Poly are looking like the teams to beat in Southern Section Division I because of exceptional pitching duos.

Esperanza has seniors Kelby Aase and Matt Daly, who have signed with Nevada Las Vegas and Hawaii, respectively. Poly has junior Hector Rabago and sophomore Kyle Ocampo.

Senior Ernie Cho of Palm Desert (9-0) had thrown 13 consecutive scoreless innings going into weekend games.

Senior Brandon Laird of Westminster La Quinta was 4-0 with 55 strikeouts in 31 innings.

Kyle Thompson of West Hills Chaminade, a junior, struck out 15 in a perfect game against Quartz Hill and beat Los Angeles Loyola, 1-0, in a Mission League opener.

Greg Meyers, a junior at Anaheim Servite, hadn’t given up an earned run in 14 innings.

China McCarney, a senior at Vasquez, had 41 strikeouts in 21 innings, including 14 against Malibu and 12 against Antelope Valley.

Jeremy Burrell, a junior at Culver City, threw a no-hitter against Oxnard Pacifica and came back against Redondo to strike out 17.

Matt Luzar, a junior at Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, had given up one earned run in 17 innings.

Hard-throwing senior Ryan Tucker of Temple City was 2-0 with 22 strikeouts in 15 innings.

As for Bell, seeing him pitch at night in front of more than two dozen radar guns is one of those surreal baseball moments. The only thing missing is someone shouting, “Beam me up, Scotty.”

*

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.