H.S. baseball: Whalers pick just the right time to get hot

New London - The New London High School baseball team finished the regular season at 10-10, but the Whalers are doing their best to make this season memorable.

They advanced to the Class L quarterfinals Wednesday with a 4-0 win over No. 26 Guilford at Sal Amanti Field.

The No. 23 Whalers play at No. 2 RHAM of Hebron in Saturday's quarters.

"The key has been our defense," New London coach Mike Wheeler said. "We turned three double plays (Wednesday). And so far, we're getting hits when we need them."

DeAndre Jackson hit a two-run double and Nate Medina hit an RBI single for New London (12-10). Winning pitcher Jamie Santos struck out four.

In other games:

• Top-seeded Montville scored six runs in the first inning and made its 10th straight trip to the state quarterfinals with a 21-0 win over No. 16 Killingly. Jordan Volpe and Brandon Haas both went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Tyler Guetens went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI, while Max Hart homered. Montville (20-3) plays host to Haddam-Killingworth in Saturday's Class M quarterfinals.

• Al Jordan Johnson pitched a complete game and had two hits and No. 3 Fitch advanced to the Class L quarterfinals with a 6-1 win over No. 14 Watertown. Aaron Hill reached base four times for Fitch (21-4), which plays host to No. 27 Jonathan Law of Milford in the quarterfinals.

• James Annello went 4-for-4 and drove in two runs as No. 4 Waterford beat No. 20 Foran of Milford 7-2 in a Class L second-round game. Jason Dargie allowed five hits over six innings for the win, striking out eight. Seth Hoagland had a two-run single and Dan Santos and Dargie also drove in runs for the Lancers (19-4).

• No. 28 Bacon Academy lost to No. 12 Ansonia 6-1 in a Class M second-round game. Matt Scheidel had two hits and Danny Pinto scored for Bacon (10-12).

• Winning pitcher Willie Rios struck out 13, walked six and allowed three hits, leading No. 10 St. Bernard to a 4-1 win over No. 7 Lyman Memorial. Pete Aldrich hit a double for the Saints (16-7) who advanced to the Class S quarterfinals against No. 2 Derby. Lyman finished 15-8.

• Luke Foster doubled and scored in No. 15 Stonington's 6-1 loss to No. 2 Ellington in Class M. The Bears finished 12-11.