The Suffolk Christian Academy baseball team has been synonymous with conference championships and high finishes in recent years, and it will look to sustain that track record as the management of the squad changes hands.

Experienced baseball coach Tommy Moose was recently announced as the new coach of the Knights.

Orel Schleeper made the decision to step down last fall so he could dedicate the proper time to care for his mother, who was in declining health.

Suffolk Christian athletic director Steven Milner had a good candidate in mind to try to continue the Knights’ legacy of success.

“There wasn’t much searching,” he said of Tommy Moose. Over the last couple years, getting to know him and talking with him, his knowledge of the game is what really stood out.”

And Moose had already expressed a desire to help out.

“I saw what they had last year, enjoyed watching it, was eager to help in any way I could,” Moose said.

At 48 years old, he has extensive experience coaching baseball, noting he started coaching “as soon as I was done playing.”

He played for 12 to 13 years and estimated he started coaching before he turned 18.

“I’d say I’ve probably coached for 25 years, somewhere in there,” he said.

Moose spent around 20 years coaching Little League and Pony baseball, and he has managed two travel baseball organizations — the Tidewater Heat and Virginia Fire.

He also spent a year as the junior varsity baseball coach at Portsmouth Christian School.

He gave up coaching to watch his son Shawn play baseball at Suffolk Christian, and he helped develop him as a player. Shawn Moose has been a star for the Knights and will be a key leader for the team this year as a junior.

After being away from coaching for a while, Tommy Moose said he got the desire to return.

Just prior to receiving the request from Milner to take over head coaching duties at SCA, Moose, a resident of Portsmouth, had accepted an assistant coaching position at Alliance Christian Academy.

After some prayer and consideration with his family, Moose called ACA and let them know he thought going to Suffolk Christian was the better move for his family.

“I figured it was just a God thing, easy decision,” he said.

Moose said he looks forward to helping Suffolk Christian’s players “not only be really good baseball players but also be a Godly example.”

Schleeper reflected on his four-year stint at SCA.

“It was a fun run,” he said. “The first two years I coached there we finished second and the last two years we finished first.”

Of his successor, Schleeper said, “Tommy will do fine. He knows baseball.”

Moose said he looks to start voluntary offseason workouts on Saturday.

“I think if we work hard, another conference championship is probably within reach,” he said.