Salisbury capped its best Colonial League golf season in years by placing two players in the top 10 at the league championship tournament, held last Wednesday at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.

Jack Bonge took fifth place while Kody Long finished seventh. Teammate Brendan Rechinbach finished tied for 16th.

Bonge shot an 80 and tied for fourth place before falling in a playoff with Moravian Academy's Christian Haldeman.

"I could have done better," said Bonge after his round. "I left a few strokes out there.

"I was hitting my irons well and I was chipping the ball well. I missed a few putts that I should have made. I couldn't really hit drives today. I only had a few decent ones."

Bonge average 77 for the season despite only playing in seven regular season matches because he also was the starting goal keeper for the Salisbury varsity soccer team.

"It's tough," he said. "There's a lot of scheduling conflicts and figuring everything out."

Long, who was the team's No. 1 player throughout the season, shot 82 for seventh place. He came in as one of several players with a shot to win the title, but a double bogey on his fourth hole sent his round in the wrong direction.

"I couldn't rebound from that," he said. "I think I was one over going into four and then the double bogey just threw me off.

"I was driving the ball pretty well. I was chipping pretty well. Putting really killed me. If I could have putt, it would have been better."

Long averaged 75 this season and led his team to its first Colonial League regular season playoff, which includes the league's two division winners and two wild cards that play for the league's regular season crown at the same time as they're competing in the league tournament.

The Falcons finished as the third-place team.

"I think we really overachieved," said Long. "I'm really happy we were able to get to leagues in the final year. It was a great season for us."

Salisbury's top players move on to the District 11 Class AA qualifier at Mahoning Valley.

Last season, Long shot 91 at the qualifier and went on to a 10th place finish at districts, shooting 87 at Blue Ridge Country Club. He finished four strokes short of advancing to regionals.

Having experienced the district tournament atmosphere last year should help Long when he returns to this year's events.

"I definitely know what to expect going in there," said Long. "Last year I wasn't sure how to go about playing. This year I definitely know what my approach is going to be."

The qualifier will be held Monday, Sept. 29 with the district championship tournament following a week later at Shawnee Golf Course.