SOUTHERN SECTION 3-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : El Toro Rally Falls Well Short of La Mirada : Chargers’ 7th-Inning Rally Can’t Top Brooks’ Hitting, Pitching, 8-4.

El Toro High School opened play in its Southern Section 3-A championship baseball game Saturday in Anaheim Stadium much the same way the Chargers began play in the 1988 season--very slowly.

But after being shut out for six innings by La Mirada’s ace pitcher, Eric Brooks, El Toro finished with the same flourish it demonstrated in reaching the final of the single-elimination tournament.

However, El Toro’s final rally in a season of comebacks fell short in an 8-4 loss to La Mirada. The Chargers, who had to win a wild-card game to reach the first round of the playoffs, finished 18-14.

“We lost, but I’m still going to Disneyland,” said Dan DeLeon, El Toro coach. “We’re the second-to-the-last team to put our uniforms away, so you can’t feel bad about that.”

La Mirada’s first baseball title in the school’s 28-year history could be summed up in one word: Brooks. Brooks (15-1) struck out nine and allowed only three hits until the seventh inning.

Brooks also wasn’t too shabby at the plate; he tripled, doubled and singled, driving in two runs. The senior bounced a ground-rule double near the 404-foot sign in center field and his triple short-hopped the 386-foot sign in right-center field.

“If Eric Brooks isn’t the 3-A player of the year, I’ll be very surprised,” said Tony Corrente, La Mirada coach. “He tired in the seventh inning, but we were going to win or lose with Eric on the mound.”

El Toro made the game interesting by collecting six hits off Brooks in the seventh inning to avoid being shut out. Until the seventh, El Toro’s only serious threat came in the fifth inning when Adam Brass and Sean Drinkwater hit two-out singles but were stranded when Dave Nemeth struck out.

“I’m glad we came back and showed the people what we really look like,” DeLeon said. “We got nine hits, which was just as many as they did, but we didn’t put it together quickly enough.

“We gave up too many runs too soon, and they did a super job. Their pitcher was pretty awesome. I can see why he’s so highly recruited.”

The 6-foot 2-inch, 195-pound Brooks opened the third inning with a ground-rule double and before the inning ended, the Matadores (22-6-1) had combined four hits with two El Toro errors for a 3-0 lead. Brooks also keyed a three-run sixth inning with a triple that drove in two runs.

When El Toro opened the seventh with two consecutive hits, Corrente said he knew the Chargers would not go quietly. They didn’t, sending 10 batters to the plate before losing.

“I taught at El Toro for a year and have followed them all season,” Corrente said. “I knew they were an opportunistic ballclub. When they started to rally, I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, here they go again.’ ”

El Toro had the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate when first baseman Bob Gaskins struck out to end the game. The play signaled the end of a roller-coaster season.

El Toro was a preseason pick to win the South Coast League but struggled to finish third with ace pitcher Don Goodbrand missing five weeks with tendinitis in his right shoulder. Earlier, a frustrated DeLeon tendered his resignation, but he insisted he would return next season.

“I’ll be coaching at El Toro next year,” he said. “We had a lot of fun in the playoffs when a lot of people didn’t gave us a chance. A better team just beat us today, that’s all.”