Staff photo / Brian Yauger Lakeview senior Kennedy Bartlett (right) and head coach Dave Kelm walk off the field after the Bulldogs' 7-1 loss to Hillsboro on Thursday in the Division IV state semifinals at Firestone Stadium in Akron.

AKRON — All season long, Lakeview’s bats and offense have been its identity.

Even in games when their pitching wasn’t at its best, the Bulldogs were able to rely on their ability to hit and score runs.

However, facing an elite pitcher, Lakeview’s bats finally ran out of juice on Wednesday, as the Bulldogs’ dream season came to an end 7-1 to Hillsboro in the Division IV state semifinals at Firestone Stadium in Akron.

“Absolutely proud of our team and proud of what they did for our community,” Lakeview head coach David Kelm said. “Our community showed up, and it was so amazing to watch it. This is a special moment for everybody and just very proud of everything we’ve done this year.”

Indians senior pitcher Camryn Spruell, who is headed to play at Ball State in the fall, kept the Bulldogs at bay all afternoon, limiting Lakeview to just four hits while striking out 13 batters.

She struck out six of the first eight hitters she faced, and even when the Bulldogs started to adjust at the plate and get players on base and in position — like they did in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings — Spruell was still able to get her team out of jams and limit Lakeview on the scoreboard.

“I think she just had a little more spin than a lot of the other pitchers that we’ve seen, so that wasn’t something we’ve been used to,” Bulldogs senior Kennedy Bartlett said. “And a lot of the pitchers we saw recently weren’t as fast as she throws, so we had to adjust to it. But we just didn’t do it in time.”

Lakeview’s lone run of the game came in the bottom of the third inning. After a lead-off single from Rylee Barnot, who led the Bulldogs with two of the team’s hits, Bartlett was able to steal home on a wild pitch by Spruell to give the team an early lead after three innings.

But Hillsboro would answer in the ensuing inning with an RBI groundout by Addley Miller to tie things up.

At that point, with things tied 1-1 after four innings, Lakeview opted to change pitchers. Senior Ava Bacon had pitched the first four innings, and she made way for Isabella Isenberg.

“It’s just been one of our strategies that we’ve used this year,” Kelm said. “We’ve got a good hitting team. The longer you see a pitcher, typically, that’s when you’re going to start getting hit. So just part of our strategy, and it’s going to be one of those things we’re going to keep doing.”

The change proved to be exactly what the Indians needed, as they proceeded to plate three runs on four hits that very inning.

After Isenberg walked in another run with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, Bacon came back in to finish things out for the Bulldogs. But the damage had been done, as Hillsboro’s Isabelle Brunck then hit a two-run single off Bacon for the game’s final tally.

“Bacon, she’s a good pitcher. She works outside, but she’s a little bit slower,” Indians head coach Gary Breeden said. “When they brought Isenberg in with that speed, the girls are more comfortable hitting that kind of speed and higher. So it kind of fell in our laps a little bit.”

Despite the loss, these Bulldogs have left their mark, having put together the best season in program history.

“It’s great when you see the kids in the community excited about softball and what these girls are doing and having (them as) their favorite players, as I’ve been hearing,” Kelm said. “This group here — we did it together. So this is big for everything and for Lakeview softball going forward.”

Lakeview won its first outright Northeast-8 Conference championship during the regular season, sweeping league powerhouses Poland and South Range. Then during the Division IV playoffs, the Bulldogs won their first district championship since 2016.

“Going undefeated in the conference was really good for us, and we’ve had a great ride,” Bartlett said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

However, the Bulldogs weren’t done and their magic continued during regionals, as they downed state-ranked Elyria Catholic and Perry to capture their first-ever regional championship and earn their first state final four appearance.

“It really means a lot to us and especially our team to be making history here,” Bacon said.

In addition to their accomplishments this year, Lakeview’s three-member senior class of Bartlett, Bacon and Hallie Capan leave behind a paradigm-shifting legacy that the Bulldogs can continue to build off of moving forward.

“We just kept getting better, and that’s been our mantra since (the seniors) were freshmen,” Kelm said.

Now Kelm hopes that the underclassmen returning players can use their experiences this season to make what the team did this year a recurring thing.

“It’s magical. The positivity, the energy, the way that this unit came together and the way that freshmen came in and they got to see what Lakeview softball already is and where it is now, there’s not much we have to do other than just keep building, keep making Lakeview proud and showing up,” Kelm said. “We’ve got a great thing going here.”