RIVER’S Aedyn Kraft (13) beats the tag of Shadyside third baseman Holly Butler during Tuesday’s prep softball game in Sardis. The homestanding Pilots won, 6-4, in a game that was switched from Shadyside due to inclement field conditions.

SARDIS — After yielding a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning, River’s Katie Lively made quick work of visiting Shadyside in pre softball action.

The sophomore needed 17 pitches to escape with just two runs allowed. She won only need 48 over the next six frames in a 6-4 Pilots’ debut on a chill-filled, but sunny, Tuesday along the Ohio River in Monroe County.

“I’ve got high hopes for Katie. She has great work ethic,” veteran River head coach David Wright said. “From the first scrimmage against Bellaire to now, she has improved 50 percent. I’ve got high hopes for her.”

The right-hander was the victim of two errors behind her in that first inning, but she only threw more than 10 pitches in an inning once over the final half-a-dozen frames. She scattered eight hits while striking out a pair and not issuing a base-on-balls.

River tallied a pair of unearned runs of its own in its first at-bat, but Shadyside took a 3-2 lead in the third when Kylie Jo Baker singled home Sydnie Destifanes.

However, the Pilots got that run back in the fourth on Riley Lallathin’s run-scoring single to left that plated Josie Reed. They took a 4-3 advantage in the fifth when Livi Rose doubled off the fence leading off. She went to third on a Katie Rufener sacrifice bunt and raced home when Lively grounded out to the right side of the infield.

River tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth to make it 6-3 as Candace Caldwell drove in Elizabeth McConn and Rose drove in Caldwell.

“We hit the ball when we had to. We moved runners up with the small game and manufactured a couple of runs,” Wright noted. “We spotted them two unearned runs right off the bat, but the girls battled back.

“It’s never easy against Shadyside,” Wright added. “It’s a tough win when you win and it’s a tough loss when you lose. It’s never easy because they play you tough no matter what you do.”

Destifanes knocked in Tory Hendershot in the top of the seventh with her second double of the game, but Lively closed the door.

“Give them a lot of credit. They hit the ball really well,” Shadyside head coach Jillian Ongley said of the Pilots. “In the middle innings I think we got into a lull. We hit the ball, but we hit it right to them. We’re hitting the ball, but they made the plays.”

Lallathin, Lyndsey Huffman, Rose and Lively all had two hits each for River.

Baker singled three times for Shadyside. Losing pitcher Isabella Swords had a single, double and RBI. She also fanned two and walked two.

The game was originally scheduled for Shadyside, but wet field conditions forced the move down river. The Tigers will look to get in the win column today when they host Magnolia. The Pilots, meanwhile, host Frontier Thursday.