Staff photo / Preston Byers. Lakeview’s Mackenzie Stowe (20) tags out South Range’s Solena DeJesus at home plate during Wednesday’s game in Beaver Township.

BEAVER TOWNSHIP — Wednesday’s de facto Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) championship game between South Range and visiting Lakeview had it all: comebacks, plenty of runs and its fair share of drama. But, unfortunately for Raiders head coach Jeff DeRose, there is one thing that the game lacked: a happy ending, at least for his team.

After coming back from a 4-1 deficit to tie it in the sixth inning and ultimately force extras, South Range again knotted the game at six apiece in the ninth. But an apparent missed call at first base derailed what could have been a game-winning Raiders rally, and in the 10th, the Bulldogs went ahead 7-6 and held on to end South Range’s nine-game win streak and NE8 title bid.

“Many opportunities squandered. I look back at the way we came back… [and] we played extremely well, well enough to win. We just didn’t get the breaks,” DeRose said. “I hate blaming games on umpires, but our girl was safe at first. I don’t think there was any doubt, and that changes the outcome of the game.”

Lakeview, which defeated the Raiders 11-8 in the teams’ first meeting of the season on March 30, shook off the gloomy and brisk May weather to take an early lead Wednesday.

In the top of the first inning, Rylee Barnot got the Bulldogs started with a single through the infield, and after a Mackenzie Stowe walk, Annaliese DeJulio drove in Barnot to score the first run of the game.

The Raiders responded in quick order, thanks to a Gabby Spooner triple to left field, which preceded a Keira Brogan groundball, which Lakeview shortstop Kalyssa Werner fielded and threw back to home plate. Despite the throw and Stowe’s tag seeming to make it in time, the umpire ruled Spooner safe, much to the chagrin of Bulldogs head coach Dave Kelm, tying the game 1-1.

After a quiet second inning for both teams, Werner led off the third with a single before Barnot laid down a bunt and beat the throw at first base. Stowe then hit an RBI single to score Werner, and Isabella Isenberg also singled into the outfield to drive in both Barnot and Werner.

Down 4-1 and with one on and no outs in the third, DeRose replaced senior starter Ashley Rupert with freshman Cameryn Crepage. The move would prove to be quite successful.

The first batter Crepage faced slapped a softly hit ball to first baseman Addison Wardle, who easily completed the double play. And then Crepage struck out Paige Schwartz to end the half-inning.

Possibly reinvigorated by the swift outs on defense, South Range began the bottom of the third with a Brogan double to left-center field. Anna Aey, the next batter up, went to the same area of the outfield — just a little farther. Aey took an Isenberg pitch over the left-field fence and pulled the Raiders back within one with a two-run home run.

Back in the circle for her first full inning, Crepage walked Ava Neilan, the leadoff hitter and later allowed a Werner single, but with a strikeout of Barnot, she managed to get out of a jam.

From there until extra innings, Crepage cruised: she forced a fly out and a pair of ground outs to retire the side in order in the fifth inning. The freshman did much of the same in the sixth and seventh, during which she extended her consecutive outs to 10.

Meanwhile, the South Range offense did its job in the bottom of the sixth, when Wardle singled up the middle to drive in Brogan, who had led off the half-inning with a single down the first-base line. The Raiders certainly could have taken the lead shortly thereafter, although a controversial call at home kept the game tied.

During a Crepage at-bat, Stowe caught a pitch and fired it to second base in the hopes of catching Wardle stealing. After Wardle awkwardly slid into the bag, Werner threw the ball back to home as Solena DeJesus tried to score the go-ahead run. The home-plate umpire called DeJesus out, drawing the ire of DeRose, and the second-base umpire called Wardle safe, prompting an appeal from Kelm.

After the coaches returned to their respective posts, Isenberg struck out Crepage to send the game to the seventh inning tied 4-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, after Crepage’s 1-2-3 inning, Heidi Bartels led off with a bloop single that fell just out of reach of second baseman Ella Collins’ outstretched glove. Then, Katie Dance laid down a bunt just in front of home plate and reached base safely when a throw down to first proved unsuccessful.

After Sophia Brogan grounded out, putting both runners in scoring position, Spooner bunted. Although Isenberg seemingly reacted well by quickly fielding the ball and throwing it to DeJulio, who appeared to tag Alana Thompson sliding back to the bag, the third-base umpire ruled her safe and effectively loaded the bases with one out.

South Range could not capitalize on the golden opportunity, though, as Keira Brogan popped out, and Aey flew out, leaving the three runners stranded on base.

Lakeview had a similarly perfect chance to deliver a potential deathblow to its opponent in the top of the eighth, when, after back-to-back outs to start the inning, DeJulio singled, Schwartz walked and Neilan hit an infield single to load the bases.

However, Crepage came up with a strikeout just when her team needed it to keep the game tied.

In the top of the ninth, the Bulldogs, despite two quick outs to start, would not have the same issues.

Barnot singled through the middle of the infield, and Stowe beat a throw in the dirt at first base before Isenberg dropped in a single over the second baseman’s glove to score both of her teammates and put Lakeview up 6-4.

The Raiders would not so easily be denied, as they came back in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff walk by Dance and then a Sophia Brogan double to left field, which scored Dance. Just like her sister, Keira Brogan then doubled to left to tie the game 6-6 with just one out.

Aey appeared to follow up the second double with an infield single, which would have put runners on the corners and Isenberg into a tough situation. However, moments after Aey stepped on first base and Schwartz caught the ball, the second-plate umpire hesitated before pumping his fist to signal Aey was out.

DeRose exploded out of the first-base coach’s bag and yelled toward the umpire, much like many of the Raiders fans in attendance. Despite their disapproval of the call, it remained, and the next batter grounded out when Schwartz successfully fielded a throw in the dirt.

Lakeview used its newfound momentum to put away the game in the 10th.

Schwartz singled off the third baseman’s glove before Neilan doubled to right field, setting up what should have been a successful sacrifice fly by Collins. However, a perfect throw from right fielder Dance and tag by Bartels resulted in a double play.

But Werner made the phenomenal defense irrelevant in the next at-bat; the senior shortstop singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Neilan for what would become the game-winning run.

In the bottom of the 10th, Isenberg struck out Wardle and then Crepage before forcing a groundout from Bartels, completing her first 1-2-3 inning since the fifth and, most importantly, Lakeview’s NE8 championship victory.

“We score and the game’s over, and he just took the game out of our hands,” DeRose said. “At this stage of the game, when you’re having a league championship for the most part — I’ve never seen either one of these guys. I mean, I don’t want to say they were horrible, but I’ve seen way better umpiring before. Today was bad. And I’m not blaming the game on the umpires, but they did make a bad call that could have changed the outcome of the game.

“At the end of the day, we had bases loaded with one out, and we couldn’t get a hit to score to win the game. So there’s opportunities. I blame ourselves for not winning the game. But you don’t put a game like this in the umpires’ hands; you put it in the girls’ hands. And it just didn’t happen that way.”

On the day, Crepage had nine strikeouts and allowed eight hits, one earned run and three walks. Isenberg struck out seven and surrendered 10 hits, six runs and two walks.

This is the third consecutive conference title for Lakeview (19-5, 11-1 NE8), which shared the crown with the Raiders in 2024 before going undefeated in the NE8 in 2025. The Bulldogs are set to visit Canfield today before a Saturday matchup at home vs. Ursuline.

South Range (15-7, 9-2 NE8), which had won nine in a row until Wednesday, finishes up league play at Niles on Friday before a regular-season finale vs. Hoover on Monday.