On a night when a rain delay seemed more likely, another kind of delay interrupted play.

And the Butler baseball team's mojo.

With North Allegheny up 1-0 with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Golden Tornado pitcher Jesse Savisky snapped off a fastball. As the ball screamed toward the catcher's mitt, two light standards at Kelly Automotive Park went dark.

The ensuing delay lasted 25 minutes. Once play resumed, North Allegheny tacked on a run in the top of the fifth, another in the top of the sixth and two more in the top of the seventh to doom Butler to its first section loss of the season, 5-0, Monday night.

Had Butler won, it would have clinched the WPIAL Section 1-AAAA title. The loss throws the Tornado and Tigers into a first-place tie.

“I'm proud of our guys after the delay, putting a run up there and a run up in the next inning,” said Tigers' coach Andy Maddix. “I feel like, mentally, our guys hung in there and did a good job.

“I think it made a difference. It was a real tight game and we were able after the lights came back on to grab a run,” Maddix added. “We were able to get momentum.”

And the Golden Tornado seemed to lose a little of theirs, although coach Todd Erdos downplayed the brown-out as a factor.

“I don't think it had too much affect on the ballgame,” Erdos said. “I think we just got out-played. Fundamentally they played better. They did the little things right. They had keys hits when they needed it and we didn't and they pitched the ball well.”

Butler (10-3, 7-1) had an early opportunity with runners on second and third and no one out in the bottom of the first inning, but North Allegheny pitcher Jon Dignazio wiggled out of the jam with three straight strikeouts.

Savisky had worked his way out of similar trouble in the top half of the first.

“Jon battled out of some spots early and kept putting up zeros,” Maddix said. “Jon did what he had to do.”

North Allegheny (11-5, 7-1) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a RBI ground out by Matt Muslin.

With a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Maddix quickly pulled Dignazio after he walked Kyle Campbell to lead off the inning.

Tyler Saundry came in and struck out the side around a single to escape.

Saundry worked three innings for the save, striking out six.

“We're lucky we have a guy like Tyler who can come in and do the same stuff,” Maddix said.

Savisky worked six innings, giving up three runs — two earned — and fanned five.

Dignazio, a left-hander, and Saundry, a burly, hard-throwing right-hander, combined to strike out 11 Butler batters for NA. The duo only gave up two hits, both to Reid Werth.

“We had some miscues on the basepaths and we didn't get hits, and we struck out 11 times,” Erdos said. “Not going to win a lot of games doing that.”

Both Butler and North Allegheny have two more section games remaining and both have clinched playoff berths.

“It would have been nice to get a win and clinch a section title, which hasn't been done here in a while,” Erdos said. “It's also a wake-up call, too, not that we didn't produce the effort out there, but just the little things we didn't do out there that we need to make sure we button up here in the next two games heading into the playoffs.”

North Allegheny 001 011 2 — 5 10 0

Butler 000 000 0 — 0 2 1

W: Jon Dignazio 4IP (5K, 5BB). L: Jesse Savisky 6IP (5K, 3BB). SV: Tyler Saundry 3IP (6K, 0BB)

North Allegheny (11-5, 7-1): Luke Zahren 2-1B, Josh Plichta 2-1B, Matt Muslin 1B 2-RBI, Dan Trettel 1B, Mitchell Machi 2B RBI, Ryan Hamm 1B 2B RBI, Jason Monper 1B

Butler (10-3, 7-1): Reid Werth 2-1B

Wednesday: Butler at North Hills, 7 p.m.