LAKE VILLA – Prairie Ridge leadoff man Tyler Vasey tried a different approach to work out of a batting slump, shooting the ball to the opposite field for doubles in two of his first three at-bats.

With that renewed confidence, Vasey stepped to the plate in the fifth inning and delivered the big blow of the game, a bases-loaded double to center field against Lakes.

“Overall, I haven’t been hitting well,” Vasey said. “I kind of switched up a little bit [with my approach]. I got a fastball down the middle and kind of turned on it.”

The Wolves scored three that inning, added two in the sixth and defeated the Eagles, 10-7, in their nonconference game Friday.

Prairie Ridge (2-3) started the fifth with Zach Bentsen reaching on an error, stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch. Braden Thelander then worked a walk after being down 0-2 in the count.

Trace Vrbancic hit a hard one-hopper back to the mound that pitcher Aiden Mullen fielded and fired to second base. Shortstop JJ Jackson then threw home to nip Bentsen in a close play.

It looked as if Lakes (1-4) was going to get out of the inning unscathed, but Aidan Preves singled and Drew Rightmyer was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Vasey.

“As soon as that kid turned and threw, I thought we were going to score a run, even if they turn the double play,” Wolves coach Glen Pecoraro said. “To throw that ball 127 feet, 7 inches and throw [Bentsen] out, I have to tip my hat. That hit by Vasey was big because we just lost a run there.

“I learned this from Jim Lefebvre, the old Cubs manager a long time ago. When a guy’s struggling, just get him to hit the ball the other way. Let him see the ball a little longer, let it travel, slow it down, let it get a little deeper, keep his head still, and he did a nice job. That was good to see.”

Lakes coach Chris Hoffman said the third, when Prairie Ridge scored four unearned runs, and the fifth were the key innings.

“We had those two big innings that hurt us,” Hoffman said. “We played OK, but we have to make those routine plays. Those two innings wound up costing us.”

In the third, the Wolves took advantage of an error and a sun-aided double to score four runs.

Lakes ripped four hits in the first inning and scored three runs, with Ethan Clark and Jacob Filip each driving in one.

Prairie Ridge came back and took the lead, which it pushed to 8-4 after Vasey’s third double. Lakes scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth to make it 10-7, then Filip struck out three in a perfect seventh to keep the Eagles close.

Prairie Ridge first baseman Jack Tobin came in to close, striking out two and hitting two in the seventh.

“I didn’t get much time to warm up. I ran down [to the bullpen] for five pitches, but didn’t get much and had to come back and hit,” Tobin said. “I was trying to get my arm loose in the warmups [eight pitches between innings]. They key was slowing myself down with my breathing and heart and locking in.”

Thelander knocked in three runs and Bentsen drove in one for the Wolves.

Clark doubled in a run in the first and singled in the Eagles’ two runs in the sixth. Filip had two hits and one RBI and Jackson had two doubles.

“We’ve had a couple tough close games early in the year,” Hoffman said. “Our bats came alive today, we swung the bats really well. At the end of the day we just didn’t make enough routine plays to win the game.

“It’s something to build on for us. I’m really happy with that. Ethan [Clark] and Jacob [Filip] have been our most consistent players. The rest of our lineup did well today too. A lot of guys had some really good at-bats.”