El Toro Baseball Coach DeLeon Will Resign After the Season

El Toro High School baseball Coach Dan DeLeon, who led the Chargers to four South Coast League titles in nine seasons, said he is resigning at the end of this season.

DeLeon, 43, said he will pursue career opportunities in professional baseball. He has been a part-time scout for the Angels the past two summers, assisting the team’s development of Latin players in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

“I told the team on April 15 when we were playing in the tournament in Orlando that I wasn’t coming back,” DeLeon said. “I made the decision about seven weeks ago, and I haven’t lost a wink of sleep since then.

“I weighed the pluses and minuses and I decided at this point in my life to pursue my professional baseball interests. The decision opens up the spring for me, and I could start scouting in January when the colleges begin.”

DeLeon has a 153-97 record going into today’s South Coast League finale against Mission Viejo. DeLeon’s teams won league titles in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1990. DeLeon also had teams qualify for the Southern Section playoffs in 1988, 1991 and this season.

El Toro advanced to the Southern Section 3-A championship game in 1988, losing to La Mirada, 8-4. The Chargers reached the 4-A semifinals last year, losing to eventual champion Capistrano Valley, 18-5.

DeLeon also was an assistant football coach at El Toro for 12 years, joining former Coach Bob Johnson’s staff as the varsity’s defensive coordinator for three years and then coaching lower-level teams.

“I’m 43 years old, and I’ve been doing this (coaching baseball) for 22 years,” he said. “It’s time for a change.”