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AUGUSTA — Beating a team as good as Cony baseball is a tough task for any opponent on any day.

When the Rams execute and get the balls to bounce their way? That task becomes nearly impossible even when you play well — and on Wednesday, that’s exactly how Cony opened its playoff account.

Cony claimed an 8-3 victory over rival Gardiner in a Class B North quarterfinal at Morton Field. The win sends the second-seeded Rams (15-2) to a semifinal Saturday at home against either No. 6 Nokomis (12-4) or No. 3 Mount Desert Island (11-5), who play Thursday.

“We all just came through, hit the ball and made plays,” said Cony’s Nolan Noyes, who had three hits and two RBI. “Practice was great this week. We got the win, and we’re going to keep pushing through Saturday.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• When you put the ball in play, good things tend to happen. They did for Cony, which got some fortuitous bounces on hard hit-balls.

A first-inning RBI single by Landon Theriault was the product of a funny hop that skipped around the Gardiner infield. A Noyes RBI single in the second took a similar bounce into the outfield, and a chopper by Drew Lindquist in the third forced a throwing error that eventually led to another Rams run.

“God knows we’ve had our share of line drives right at people over the course of this year, so I’m not going to look sideways at something like that,” said Cony coach Don Plourde. “You’ll take that at this time of year.”

• Cony got two runs on brilliantly executed suicide squeezes. With the Rams leading 4-2 in the third inning, Landen Perry laid down a bunt, and Drew Lindquist scored easily. Josh Lajoie brought home Max Tibbetts in the fifth to make it 7-3.

“From Day 1, we work on the suicides every day at practice,” Plourde said. “It’s part of our offensive identity, and if the opportunity presents itself, great. Landen gave himself up, and Josh Lajoie came in as a pinch-hitter and gave himself up. Those were some big runs.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Cony, which has won 10 consecutive games since a May 13 defeat at Monmouth Academy, reached the semifinals for the third time in four years. The Rams have made easy work of opponents during their winning streak, outscoring them 112-21. 

• No. 10 Gardiner’s season ends at 7-11. The Tigers, a young squad with one junior and no seniors, gained valuable postseason experience that included a prelim upset of No. 7 Lawrence on Tuesday and a spirited showing Thursday in which they got a hit in every inning,

“I’ve got a group of young guys that love baseball and are pleasant to be around and work hard,” said Gardiner coach Charlie Lawrence. “They took the coaching, and they progressed from the end of the season up until now. We have high expectations going forward for the next couple years.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• “I told Charlie that their guys gave us everything we could handle. That’s why we play the games; forget about the regular season and what happened last game. We grinded out the eight runs that we had, so tip your cap to them.” — Don Plourde

• “(I was seeing) fastball, and it was just about jumping on the first one. … We’ve been practicing hard, taking live reps and just working hard at everything, so it feels good.” — Nolan Noyes

STAT LEADERS

• Gardiner: Jack Collins (2 1B), Joe Goraj (2 1B; L, 6 IP, 5 ER)

• Cony: Nolan Noyes (2B, 2 1B, 2 RBI), Parker Morin (2 1B, BB), Ben Allen (W, 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 K, 3 BB), Lance Theriault (2 1B, RBI, SB)