Sterling found a way to scratch out a couple of runs right off the bat. Dixon never found the answer.

The Golden Warriors grabbed the lead in the top of the first and rode Eli Penne’s gem to a 2-0 victory over the rival Dukes in their Class 3A Sterling Regional semifinal Wednesday at Gartner Park.

Sterling (14-18) advances to Saturday’s title game, where it will face Belvidere North, a 7-0 winner over Rochelle in the second semifinal.

“If you were to say, ‘Hey, you’re going to score two runs in the first and that’s going to hold up the whole game,’ I don’t know if I would’ve believed you at the beginning,” Sterling coach Darwin Nettleton said. “We said at the beginning of the year we’re just going to try to grind out games. If we find a way to stick around long enough, not beat ourselves, good for us. It was a combination of good pitching, good defense and then timely runs scored in the first.”

Penne and Wyatt Cassens reached on infield singles around Landon Kukowski’s sacrifice bunt in the top of the first, then Adrian Monarrez ripped an RBI single to center. Cale Nettleton followed with a sacrifice fly for the quick 2-0 lead.

That was enough for Penne on the mound. He tossed a one-hitter, striking out seven while working around three walks and two hit batsmen.

“Everything was working today, the fastball-slider combo was good, and then I got a lot of balls on the ground and in the air,” he said. “It’s great to score early, it takes a lot of pressure off me and gives me a cushion to work with, and my defense has had my back all year, so I know I can trust them out there.”

Dixon hit the ball hard several times, but each time it found a Sterling glove. Danny Martinez had a diving catch at second base in the first inning, Cale Nettleton had two nice plays up the middle at shortstop, and Kukowski made a diving catch in center field in the sixth inning.

“That’s just baseball, how it goes sometimes,” Dixon senior Daniel Fordham said. “[Penne] threw his offspeed pitches for strikes most of the time, and he kept us off-balance.

“We tried to come out and hit the ball hard, but we couldn’t find the holes. It just didn’t happen for us today.”

The Dukes’ first baserunner was a hit by pitch in the bottom of the third, and the only hit was a Jagger Kemp triple to lead off the fourth. But Penne got a pair of strikeouts around a walk, and Nettleton snagged a grounder up the middle to end the inning and keep Dixon off the scoreboard.

“Runner on third there, I was just not going to let a ball in play,” Penne said. “I knew I had to get a strikeout, and I got two in a row there around a walk, and Cale made a great play up the middle. That got us out of it.”

Dixon got two on via hit by pitch and walk with two outs in the sixth but couldn’t capitalize, then led off the seventh with a walk before Penne got two strikeouts and a flyout to end it.

“Eli Penne was phenomenal, just totally phenomenal on the mound, so tip our cap to him. And I thought defensively we were really good,” coach Nettleton said. “When we throw strikes, our defense has been really good. I think Eli walked three kids and hit two and struck out seven, but our guys had to make 14 plays for outs behind him. Martinez makes a diving play at second, Kukowski makes a diving play in center. Even the leadoff triple, I thought [Jack] Saathoff, Martinez and [Tyler] McCafferty executed it extremely well.”

Fordham kept the Dukes in it on the mound, pitching a complete game. He struck out five, walked two and hit two batters, allowing two runs and six hits. He settled in as the game wore on – four of Sterling’s hits came in the first two innings – and the Dixon defense threw out two runners trying to score.

“I was able to settle in and start throwing my offspeed stuff better after the second inning. The first inning was rough, but it came together after that,” Fordham said. “I just tried to stay focused, stay in there, throw strikes and let my defense do their work.

“It’s tough that it had to end, but it will be great memories, a lot of good things the last few years. It was fun.”