SULPHUR — What a year it has been for West Orange-Stark graduate and long-time Orange County-area baseball coach Sam Moore.

Moore, a 1982 WO-S graduate, has led the Sulphur Tors to the Louisiana Class 5A State Tournament in his first year as the head coach of the baseball program.

The Tors (35-10) knocked off St. Amant in the regional quarterfinals over the weekend 3-1 and 6-1 to advance to the State Tournament, which will be held in Sulphur’s McMurry Park this week.

The Tors will face Sam Houston (35-5) at 7 p.m. Friday on Field 41 in one semifinal. The other semifinal will pit Central Baton Rouge (24-12) vs. Lake Charles Barbe (31-8) at 4 p.m. Friday on Field 41.

The State Championship Game will be Saturday at 6 p.m. on Field 41.

Sulphur started the playoffs with a 6-5 victory in eight innings over Airline. The Tors then swept Covington 6-0 and 8-2 in the second round.

Moore was the pitching coach for then Sulphur coach Jesse Cassard last season as the Tors advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Moore played baseball for Louisiana Tech, earning all-conference honors in 1986 and graduated in 1988. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Leesville High School then became the head coach at Iowa High School (1992-1994) and Vinton High School (1994-1995). From there, he headed to Texas, coaching at Little-Cypress Mauriceville, West Orange Stark and Bridge City, which was his last head coaching job.

After several years in the private sector running a baseball training program, Moore returned to coaching in 2015 as a pitching coach at Bridge City before going to Sulphur in 2016.

He has a 187-80 record as a head coach with five district championships and four regional championships.