After a disastrous second inning, it looked like the Wizards were playing their first season of baseball, not just their first season with wooden bats, as they committed a pair errors, including the drop of a routine fly ball, which led to four runs.

But Watertown scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to win 6-5 versus Saratoga in a New York Collegiate Baseball League game Monday at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

"I think the guys really care about this team, and they want to win," Wizards manager Ryan Horning said. "It's just one of those things where we didn't play very well early on, but we battled back."

J.D. Martinez led off the second with a single for the Phillies and moved to second on a balk by Watertown starter Ian Schwalenberg. After a single advanced Martinez to third, Kyle Meyer hit a long fly ball to left field for what appeared to be an easy out.

As he watched the ball travel in a high arc, Watertown's Curtis Lazar strolled toward center to make the catch, and the ball popped out of his glove. Saratoga (8-12) went on to score four runs with two outs in the inning, and it was all Lazar could do to keep from digging a hole in the outfield in which to hide.

"Shoot," Lazar said, "the four runs we gave up were my fault. I dropped the ball in left field and those runs were on me."

Lazar and the rest of the Wizards (5-11) then had to face a vehement Horning as they returned to the dugout.

"It's definitely not printable what I said," Horning said. "I was really disappointed in what I saw. It's like they were not taking pride in their defense."

Watertown pulled its act together quickly, and did not allow a run through the next six innings while scoring one in the fourth and seventh before completing the comeback in the eighth by staying aggressive on the base paths and forcing some questionable defense from Saratoga.

Derek Marshall led off the inning with a single and was pinch-run for by speedster Khyle Dimino. Horning then called for a fake bunt by Lazar as Dimino stole second. In the confusion, the throw to second landed in the outfield, and Dimino advanced to third and was singled home by Lazar, tying the game.

"I'm glad the team picked me up and I was able to contribute in the end," Lazar said. "It took the pressure off me."

Lazar worked his way around the bases on a sacrifice bunt and past ball before scoring on a Tom Barry single. Watertown went on to add a needed insurance run when Greg Herbst scored on a Phillies error, making the score 6-4.

Ryan George was then called into the game to get the save and did so in a nerve-wracking fashion.

Martinez led off Saratoga's ninth with a single and advanced to third on a Larry Pempek double before scoring on a sacrifice by Tyler Biddix. Pempek, representing the tying run, stood at third with two outs.

"He was in my mind because I could see him right in front of me as the tying run," George said. "The last thing we needed after battling back was to let him score."

George then induced a soft pop-up with a cut fastball to second to secure victory for the Wizards.

"Ultimately I got the save and that's what counts," George said. "But I'd really like to go one-two-three with three strikeouts."

The win was Watertown's second in three games and has its players believing that their most important games are right now.

"This is time to make up the ground that we've lost," George said. "You can't make it up in the last week so much when everyone's scrambling for wins. You've got to do it right now."