The Junction City Blue Jays baseball team had an up and down ride in 2021. With last season being canceled, there were high hopes for this baseball season. Things did not turn out as hoped though, with the Jays finishing with a 9-12 record.

The record of the baseball team this year started off great with 9-4 wins after beating the reigning state champs, Topeka Seaman. The Jays, however, tallied eight straight losses to finish the regular season. Here’s how their regional game went.

The Boys baseball team took on Topeka High on Tuesday in Manhattan for the regional playoffs. The Blue Jays started strong, getting off to a 2-0 lead in the two innings. After that the Jays were held scoreless until the 7^th inning in which Topeka High would take a 4-2 lead hoping to hold on to win. Junction would scratch across 1 run with 1 out to make the score 4-3. Later in the inning with two outs left, a runner was in scoring position for the Jays, sadly he was left on base when a groundout ended the game.

The Jays would end their season and also many high school baseball careers for the team as seven seniors were on the Blue Jays roster. The team will lose seniors Keyahn Taylor, Russell Wilkey, Jake Varnado, Anthony Hamilton, Andrew Khoury, Bodie Tillman, and Trevor Laughlin. Wilkey, Laughlin, and Tillman will all continue their athletic careers in college this fall.