The Baker boys golf team’s quest for a second straight Class 4A state title came up four strokes short on May 14 at Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell.

The Bulldogs, who led Marist Catholic by four strokes after the first round on May 13, finished four shots behind the Eugene school after the second and final round.

Marist’s two-day total (top four players each round) was 659. Baker’s total was 663.

Baker’s individual results:

• Isaiah Jones, tied for fourth place, rounds of 79 and 79

• Eli Long, tied for seventh place, rounds of 72 and 89. Long’s first round even-par 72 tied for the lowest round of the tournament. Phoenix’s Jordan Giles, who was the individual champion, shot a 72 in the first round and 75 in the second.

• Jaxon Logsdon, tied for 10th place, rounds of 84 and 81

• Palmer Chandler, 29th place, rounds of 93 and 90

• Kaden Conklin, 32nd place, rounds of 99 and 86

Baker’s run at or near the top of the Class 4A standings is now in its third year.

The Bulldogs also finished second in 2022.

“Going into the tournament I thought that we were in a really good place, mentally, and just everybody was confident in the scores,” coach Mike Long said. “Even on the first day, they were not indicative of what we were doing before.”

Long said Emerald Valley is a difficult layout. It’s also the home course for Marist.

“It’s one of the hardest courses in Oregon, but in our practice round we did all right,” he said. “You only get one chance to play a tournament like that at the end of the year.”

Long says there was no specific issue that led to Baker’s scores being higher than they have been. Baker’s two-day total at the district tournament, at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Baker City, was 617 — 46 fewer strokes than the Bulldogs’ score at state.

“Sometimes in golf you get kind of off and it’s hard to get things back until you can have a chance to sleep on it and come back the next day,” Long said. “We’re talking about losing to the home team by four strokes and I know the kids were pretty disappointed. At this level of the program, no matter who we played we were not happy with second.”

That said, Long said he is proud of Baker’s accomplishments the last three years. He also noted that the state tournament was the last high school event for Kaden Conklin, the team’s lone senior, who has signed to play golf at Blue Mountain Community College.

“Just come back next year and go at it again and learn from the experience,” Long said. “I wouldn’t rather do it with any other kids. I don’t know if these guys can want it more, but we’ll get after it next March.”