OTTAWA — The Hubs sophomore baseball team managed to rally past the Ottawa Pirates on Tuesday, but Rochelle fell just short in it’s second game of the conference series on Wednesday.

Brady Shank took the mound for the Hubs on Tuesday, firing four innings and holding Ottawa to one run on one hit in a 7-5 victory over the Pirates. Five Rochelle players totaled at least one RBI including freshman Kaleb Hess, who wound up going 2-for-4 with two singles. Noah Knight, Mason DeLille, Hayden Jones and Louie Mancinas also recorded one RBI, with the four boys teaming up to notch four hits in 11 combined at-bats.

Brandon Johnson closed out the victory, throwing three innings and striking out six batters. With Rochelle trailing 5-3, the Hubs scored four runs in the top of the seventh to jump ahead, and Johnson put up a scoreless frame in the bottom half to lock down the win.

Rochelle led 4-1 entering the bottom of the third inning on Wednesday, but Ottawa put four runs up to take a 5-4 lead. Hess took over on the mound in relief, tossing the last three and two-thirds innings for the Hubs, who lost by a score of 6-5.

Hess also went 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI, while Jones went 1-for-3 with a team-high two RBIs and both DeLille and Mancinas added one RBI. The sophomores jump to 4-2-1 on the season.