It was close, but Junction City ( 9-14 )  fell to Manhattan ( 21-2 ) 1-0 in the first round of the Class 6A State Baseball Tournament in Lawrence.

The Indians scored the only run of the ballgame in the fifth inning when Mike Leeper scored for Manhattan. Jesse Steinberg pitched five scoreless innings for the Indians before being relieved by Henry DeNoble in the sixth inning.

Denoble shut the Blue Jays out for the remaining two innings, but it was very close in the seventh. Aided by two Manhattan errors and a single by Ian Winchester Junction City loaded the bases with one out. But DeNoble then struck out Nate Funk and Charlie Peyla to preserve the victory for the Indians.

Will Ervin pitched well for Junction City. He went the distance on the mound for the Blue Jays, and gave up only four hits. The Blue Jays had eight base runners in the contest, and two hits.

Manhattan will play Maize ( 17-6 ) in the tournament semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Hoglund Ballpark at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, site of the state tournament. The other semifinal contest at 11 a.m. will pit Wichita Northwest ( 13-10 ) against Blue Valley High School ( 16-7 ).   The winners will play for the state championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday, while the losers of the semifinal games will meet at 4 p.m. in the third place consolation game.