Staff file photo / Preston Byers. Lakeview’s Rylee Barnot (2) hugs teammate Mackenzie Stowe during the Bulldogs’ Northeast 8 Conference championship win vs. South Range on May 6 in Beaver Township.

CORTLAND — For most of the season, Lakeview looked to be well on its way to another Northeast 8 Conference title.

But a hiccup against Girard on May 5 briefly threw a wrench into those plans. However, after holding off South Range in 10 innings the following day, the Bulldogs clinched their third straight NE8 title.

“I think every year, we just began to strengthen that want and that need to win,” senior Mackenzie Stowe said. “It feels great that coming off of 10 innings, we were the one who ended up with the title in our hands instead of them.

“We put ourselves in not the greatest situation, losing against Girard. But I think that it was something that had to happen. I think that it made us stronger in the end, and it did push us to win that 10-inning game. Maybe if we beat Girard, we wouldn’t have found what it took to win against South Range.”

For years, Poland and South Range dominated the conference. But over the past few seasons, Lakeview has made itself the team to beat in one of the area’s toughest, deepest and most competitive conferences.

“One of the first goals that I set as a first-year coach four years ago was we gotta make sure that we’re competing in the conference year after year, and not just making one good run here and there,” Bulldogs coach Dave Kelm said. “Tough games, tough teams. Just happy that our conference is getting super competitive, especially with teams like Hubbard, Girard and everybody moving up, and also competing with Poland and South Range.

Lakeview’s run to Akron last year raised the expectations and stature of the Bulldogs’ program. The team won its first district title since 2016, then went on to win its first regional title and earn its first-ever state final four appearance.

Coming off that magical run, the Bulldogs have continued to build on that momentum.

“We were constantly stuck in a rut in the district title game. Getting over it, and then just playing loose like we were and understanding it’s just playing softball,” Kelm said. “It doesn’t matter who the other team is or how they’ve done if we play softball. I’ve said it before, I say it to other people, and say it to the girls all the time: We’re not arm wrestling. We’re not out here tackling each other. This is who plays ball better.

“It’s nice to be one of those names in ink, but really it’s how you play softball, and I think they learned that last year — just making a good run and not caring about who the matchup was, caring about taking care of the ball.”

Last year, Lakeview set all kinds of program records offensively, and the Bulldogs have continued to lean on their offense once again this spring.

Lakeview is averaging just a hair under 10 runs per game, and in their primary rotation, the Bulldogs have at least seven players who are batting over .400, including seniors Stowe, Isabella Isenberg and Kalyssa Werner, junior Annaliese DeJulio, sophomore Rylee Barnot and freshmen Ava and Sophia Neilan.

“When we’re hitting, there isn’t a kid on the team, there isn’t a spot that can’t threaten in our lineup,” Kelm said. “That’s been my philosophy for quite some time now. I like to keep my game plan simple — you score more runs than the other team, you wind up winning the game.”

Lakeview enters this year’s playoffs with the No. 2 seed in its region. Coming off their run last year, the Bulldogs know they’ll have a target on their back. But they’re not letting that faze them.

“I think that it’s the same thing as last year,” Stowe said. “We just have a higher standard to live up to. But that doesn’t mean that there’s more pressure. So we’re confident, but we’re humble. I think that we’re honestly just playing softball.”

The Bulldogs (20-5) are winding down the regular season this week with a pair of tune-up games against McDonald and Chardon to prepare for the playoffs. Lakeview beat the Blue Devils, who are a No. 1 seed in Division VI, 6-2 on Wednesday, and will face the Hilltoppers on Saturday.

The Bulldogs then open the postseason against the winner of No. 20 seed Salem and No. 29 seed Struthers on Tuesday in the Division IV, Northeast 2 district semisfinals, as they look to make another deep run.

“We’re confident, I’d say, in a humble way,” Isenberg said. “I think that we all know what we’re capable of and what we can accomplish when we work together. But I think that we know that confidence is sprung from our hard work and just our bond as a team. It’s important to be confident in ourselves but also stay humble in the fact that we need to keep working and be together as a team.”