Offensively Manteca is not where it would like to be. It is the complete opposite for the Buffaloes pitching staff, which is doing a phenomenal job of keeping the club in ball games. Pitching responded again Thursday, but no offense left Manteca on the short end of a 3-1 loss in the Johansen Tournament semifinal.

Manteca (3-2) got a quality effort from Jeremy Vaughn who went six innings for the Buffaloes, only surrendering one earned run. Vaughn held Atwater to just three hits, but a pair of hits in the sixth combined with a Manteca error did Manteca in.

“I was very happy with the way Jeremy pitched today and I let him know,” Manteca head coach Gene Ballardo said. “He pitched great and he didn’t deserve to get the loss.

“But that’s baseball and it happens like that.”

Manteca missed out on an opportunity for a berth in the tourney championship, but will try and close out play with a victory in the third-fourth place matchup against Beyer High.

First pitch is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. at Johansen.

Lodi 5, East Union 0

The Lancers ran into a legit pitcher and the club struggled, mustering just four hits in a shutout loss to Lodi High Friday at Lodi.

The Flames racked up nine hits, touching pitchers Justin Nieto, Justin Ontiveros and Lucas Garcia for the five runs.

“We only ended up with four hits and didn’t get our first hit until the third inning,” East Union head coach Dan Triglia said. “Their pitcher did a real good job. We didn’t ever really pose a threat to score.”

Lodi starter Grant Hanneke went the distance, striking out eight in the complete game shutout.

East Union (1-1) will be back on the diamond Thursday when it plays host to Gregori High.