While it gave the top-seeded Blackhawks a solid 5-1 lead at the time in the third inning, it turned out to be the difference maker in the end as Madelia held off fourth-seeded Mankato Loyola/Immanuel Lutheran 8-4 in the second round of the Section 2A Baseball Tournament.

Madelia, now 24-2, plays Sleepy Eye in a semifinals game at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Sleepy Eye. Loyola falls to elimination play and will take on No. 7 Cleveland at 3 p.m. Saturday in Sleepy Eye.

Coil was also fresh off his walk-off single to beat Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey on Tuesday, so he was feeling good when he got an fastball inside and pulled it over the fence in left.

“I feel good,” Coil said. “It’s just also my teammates. Tony [Zaleski] had a big double to the wall that was big at the end. We’re just putting the bat on the ball.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Madelia’s Miah Garza scampers home during a Section 2A Baseball Tournament quarterfinals game against Mankato Loyola/Immanuel Lutheran on Thursday at Searles Ballpark.

Coil’s first-career grand slam helped cap off a six-run third inning for the Blackhawks, who trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of that inning after starting pitcher Tate Becker plunked Covin Winter with a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a run. A groundout got out of that bases-loaded jam, and the Blackhawks were quick to answer in the bottom of the third with three consecutive singles by Dalton Tatro, Miah Garza and Noel Davila loaded the bases. A walk by Zaleski tied the game and brought Coil to the plate and prompted a mound visit to chat with Loyola ace pitcher George Crimmins.

That mound visit didn’t slow down Madelia as Coil, with a 1-2 count, connected for a grand slam and a 5-1 lead. Crimmins forced a popout after that, but a double by Bryce Borkenhagen kept the hits coming. A groundout had two outs for Bradyn Grev, who singled to left to score Borkenhagen for a 6-1 lead, which Madelia held until adding another run in the fourth on a fielder’s choice that scored Garza.

Becker was taken off the mound after three innings in his start as he allowed two hits and three walks for one earned run while striking out two. Zach Jacobs pitched the final four innings of the game for Madelia, and while he ran into some trouble, he did enough to hold the Crusaders off. He finished allowing four hits and two walks for three runs, two earned, while striking out three.

“Both Zach and Tate battled,” Madelia head coach Jimmy Kiefer said. “They both battled really well. Loyola’s got a great team. I went to Loyola and that might be one of the best Loyola teams I’ve ever seen, so respect the heck out of them. We were giving them our best look just because of how good of a hitting team they are. So the boys worked hard.”

Becker finished throwing 51 pitches, 26 for strikes, while Jacobs threw 78 pitches, 43 for strikes.

Crimmins took the loss in three innings of work, allowing six hits and two walks for seven runs, six earned, while striking out three. Coty Haala pitched the final three innings for Loyola, allowing two hits and a walk for one unearned run while striking out three.

Kiefer said getting to Crimmins in the third was big for the Madelia offense, considering Crimmins has been a reliable arm for the Crusaders all year.

“George is a great pitcher,” Kiefer said. “Anytime we can put up the offensive production that we did against one of the best Class A pitchers in the state, you’re just ecstatic. It’s a testament to Loyola, they’ve done a really good job with their pitching staff, so you just pray you can put a couple runs up against it.”

Loyola got two runs back in the sixth after a walk to Jackson Kopp and hit by pitch allowed RJ Beal to reach with no outs. An RBI double to center by Mason O’Malley made it 7-2 and a groundout by Haala scored another run to make it 7-3.

Zaleski then doubled to center to score Davila, who reached with a two-out error. Two errors on a ball to the outfield allowed O’Malley to get all the way to third to lead off the seventh before a single by Winter scored him to make it 8-4. A single by Eddie Engen kept Loyola going on offense before a fielder’s choice allowed Kopp to reach and had Engen out at second. With runners on the corner, Beal grounded to Becker at shortstop, who flipped the ball to Davila for the force at second. Davila then made the throw to Zaleski at first in time for a game-ending double play.

Davila finished 2 for 4 with two runs scored to lead Madelia at the plate, while Coil was 1 for 3 with his grand slam and Zaleski was 1 for 3 with his late double and three RBIs. Grev finished 1 for 3 with his RBI single in the third, while Tatro was 1 for 3 with a run scored and Garza was 1 for 3 with two runs scored.

Coil is confident the Blackhawks can earn their way into the section finals with a win over Sleepy Eye on Saturday, a team Madelia defeated 13-2 on May 12 in Sleepy Eye.

“I have trust in us … I have confidence,” Coil said. “And our pitching is gonna be good.”