Staff photo / Neel Madhavan The Lakeview softball team raises the Division IV, Northeast 2 district championship trophy after beating Canal Fulton Northwest on Thursday in Alliance.

ALLIANCE — When Dave Kelm took over the Lakeview softball program four years ago, he envisioned building the Bulldogs into one of the area’s perennial powers.

After capturing its second straight district championship Thursday, it is safe to say Lakeview has arrived.

Sticking to their offensive identity, the Bulldogs put up 17 hits to defeat Canal Fulton Northwest 9-2 in the Division IV, Northeast 2 district final at Alliance.

“We wanted to become a team that didn’t just make a good run one year. We want to become a team that is a perennial softball program like a lot of the great ones we have in our area,” Kelm said. “I wanted us to get mentioned in that conversation, and to be able to do it here with this group of kids…it feels like we’re building a great culture, a great community and now it’s becoming like a tradition.

“This is Lakeview softball. So, very excited to do this back-to-back. I feel like I’m still learning every year, but I’m happy for it to be that way because it’s fun to do it with these kids.”

Few teams have stymied Lakeview’s hitters this season, and that didn’t change against Northwest.

Three players – Mackenzie Stowe, Annaliese DeJulio and Rylee Barnot – each went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. Five other players added a hit as well.

“We’re never in trouble,” Kelm said. “It just gives me confidence, and I know the players have confidence that we’re going to keep getting runs. … Being able to know that we can rely on hitting, while just making small adjustments on defense and pitching, it’s huge.”

Stowe displayed why she’s headed to Kent State in the fall, tallying five RBIs off her four hits.

She opened the scoring for Lakeview in the bottom of the first inning with an inside-the-park home run that scored Barnot. Stowe fell one hit shy of the cycle, finishing with an RBI double and a pair of RBI base hits.

“Honestly, I was just trying to relax, trust myself and trust God,” Stowe said. “When the opportunity was given to me, I was able to provide for my team. So honestly, I just relax and trust myself. I put so much preparation and hard work into it that why stress about it?”

The Bulldogs scored two runs in the first inning, added a run in the second and third innings, put up two more in the fourth inning and wrapped things up with a three-run fifth inning that included a two-RBI single from Barnot.

Northwest scored its only two runs in the third inning. After a one-out triple by Lily Lyons, Ally Sharrer scored her with a double. Then Calle Singer reached on an error, which allowed Sharrer to score.

From there, Isabella Isenberg kept the Indians’ hitters at bay the rest of the evening. She went the distance, finishing with 14 strikeouts and one walk while giving up two runs and three hits.

“She’s a workhorse and always has been for us since freshman year,” Kelm said. “She’s always out there just working hard, not just on the mound here, but you see it when she’s at the field, and we’re all packing up and she’s going out and throwing some drills and doing everything. She’s a leader in that she just shows up and shows people how to be a passionate teammate, how to be a workhorse and how to go do it.

“I just love the fact that there was an inning where she gave up a couple of hits, they had some stuff, but she’s not shaken. She’s just ‘alright, let’s go. Let’s move on to the next one.’ She’s doing great, and I’m glad she’s a senior leading our team this year.”

Lakeview now heads to next week’s Division IV, Region 14 semifinals, where it will try to duplicate its state run from last year. The Bulldogs will face Mogadore Field on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Devine Diamond at Kent State. The Falcons beat Streetsboro 2-1 in walk-off fashion in their district final on Thursday to advance.