Anna Riva’s third-inning home run during La Salle-Peru’s 4-1 win over Sterling in Tuesday’s Class 3A Sterling Regional semifinal went to the dogs – literally.

Riva’s solo shot was her 10th of the season, triggering an agreement she made at the beginning of the spring.

“I’m supposed to be getting a dog now. If I hit 10 home runs, my parents said I could get a puppy,” Riva said with a huge smile.

“I was just thinking that first pitch, if it’s there, then go for it. Usually the pitcher’s trying to get that first strike on you, so I was just looking for that first-pitch strike and swung hard.”

Riva’s no-doubt blast to center field gave La Salle-Peru some breathing room, and pitcher Taylor Vescogni made it stand up as she struck out 11 in a three-hitter.

“That kind of took a lot of pressure off, especially our pitcher,” Riva said. “Getting early runs really helps calm her down and get us going.”

Vescogni was effective, mixing her pitches and locations to keep Sterling off-balance. She had four 1-2-3 innings and didn’t allow a runner past first base through the first six innings.

“They saw me throw against Metamora [in a Sterling triangular] on Saturday, and I threw mostly changeups that game, so I feel like coming in today, they were expecting a lot of changeups and kind of waiting for that pitch. So I went with mostly riseballs hard in to try and jam their hands, and I feel like that was working,” Vescogni said.

“When I can trust my defense behind me, that’s when I pitch my best. And when I get ahead in the count, then I can hit a location, throw a chase pitch for the batter to swing at.”

Addie Piecha, Maggie Boudreau and Dagny Greer all drove in runs for the Cavs (21-14), and Riva added a web gem at third base.

Sterling’s Bree Taylor started the fifth inning with a single, then Sophie Potthoff tried to move her along with a sacrifice bunt. L-P knew it was coming, so Riva and Greer pinched in at the corners. When the bunt attempt was popped up – even though it never reached more than three feet off the ground – Riva dove in and caught it, then fired to first from her knees to double off the runner.

“It was just reaction,” Riva said. “I knew they were going to bunt, so I was playing in, and since it was in the air, I took the opportunity to dive. I knew the girl was way off of first, I saw her far out there [toward second], so I just threw it.”

Sterling shortstop Mya Lira turned a double play of her own on a line drive and also threw out an L-P runner at home. Martinez limited the damage in both the fourth and fifth innings, leaving three runners stranded in scoring position to keep the Cavs from pulling away.

“I was throwing a lot of curveballs and riseballs today; those pitches were good, they were on, and [L-P’s hitters] were swinging and missing when I located them. When I needed to have a ground ball or fly ball, I was able to do that for my team and get out of those jams,” Martinez said. “I have so much confidence in my team backing me up, and they always get the big outs when we need them.”

The Warriors’ biggest rally came in their final at-bat. Lily Cantu singled with one out in the seventh, then Rosie Cantu was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a pitch in the dirt, and Lily Cantu scored when the catcher’s throw to third sailed into left field.

“We all were locked in, the dugout was loud, and we wanted to get something going. We attacked the pitches, got on base, put some pressure on them,” Lily Cantu said. “Everybody was into it, and we tried to keep the rally going, but we came up short.

“We wanted to fight to the very end, but it wasn’t enough – but I’m proud of how we gave it our all until the last out.”

Potthoff drew a two-out walk to bring up the tying run. Olivia Castillo then worked the count full before hitting the ball hard to left field, but it settled into Boudreau’s glove for the final out.

La Salle-Peru advances to Friday’s regional title game against top-seeded Sycamore. Sterling (17-16) sees its season come to an end much sooner than it wanted.

“We struggled a little bit offensively throughout the game; they had a great pitcher, and we had kind of a hard time adjusting,” Warriors four-year starter Mya Lira said. “It’s sad that it has to end, but the past four years have been absolutely great. I’m grateful for my time here and just the memories, the girls, the program, the coaches, everything.

“I’ll definitely miss it a lot.”