STERLING — The Lady Hubs varsity softball team dropped a pair of tough games against the Sterling Golden Warriors during the regular season. Unfortunately for the purple and white, Wednesday’s IHSA Class 3A Regional Semifinal was no different.

Sterling started strong with six runs over the first two innings to take a commanding 6-0 lead on its home diamond. The top-seeded Golden Warriors added two runs in the third inning before exploding for seven runs in the fourth inning to end the game by a final score of 15-0. Sterling advances to the regional championship game this weekend, while Rochelle finishes its season with a final record of 5-21.

“We knew that we were going to have to come out and play a really good game,” head coach Lindsay Suess said. “We were confident but we knew that it was going to have to be a close game. The girls can look at a team like Sterling and want to put the work in over the offseason during the summer and the winter to be like Sterling. The girls want to be better.”

The ninth-seeded Lady Hubs carried some positive momentum into Wednesday’s game after dominating No. 10 seed Dixon 14-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. But Sterling proved too tough for Rochelle, as the girls were unable to record any hits in the semifinal game. The Golden Warriors rallied behind a perfect game from pitcher Jayme Eilers and cracked three home runs including two by Jordan Thormeyer. Meghan Sechrest added a two-run blast.

“I think we improved on our defense and I think our defense got a lot better as the season progressed,” Suess said. “Our hitting improved for the most part and we started seeing better at-bats from the kids.”