From News Services
Saturday, May 8, 1999; Page D06

It took Cuban pitching coach Rigoberto Betancourt Herrera just a few hours to decide to skip the flight home to Havana and leave behind his wife and four kids.

So once Cuba defeated the Orioles, Betancourt Herrera packed his bag and walked out the door of the Sheraton hotel.

"In Cuba the situation is precarious," he said. "Life is difficult -- getting transportation, housing and even medication. Here I have family. I decided to start a whole new life."

He is living with two aunts in Hialeah, a predominantly Hispanic community west of Miami. He is surprised by the help he's received. His next step is to ensure his stay in the United States and arrange for his wife and their children, ages 29, 28, 13 and 7, to move here.

BACK TO WORK: Just 11 weeks after quintuple bypass surgery, NL umpire Wally Bell was set to return to work last night at second base when the Braves played at San Diego.

Bell, 34, was only 2 1/2 weeks away from leaving for spring training when his heart problem was detected.

OBITUARY: William Owens Sr., an infielder in the Negro leagues in the 1920s, has died of complications from diabetes. He was 98.