A pair of first-inning runs held up as Northern took Round 1 in the battle of the BCSL Liberty favorites.

MANSFIELD — Nicole Bondoc got them the lead.

The rest was merely difficult.

Northern Burlington’s junior centerfielder singled, stole second and dashed home with help from two errors in the first inning and gave the Greyhounds all the offense they’d need in a 2-0 win over Burlington Township Thursday in a meeting of Burlington County Scholastic League Liberty Division powers.

Haylei Archer fired a one-hitter and struck out 13 to get her first win of the season. Township (3-2 overall, 1-1 Liberty) managed to get a runner to second base just twice in the game.

“I was throwing a lot of curveballs,” Archer said. “Working in and out and just trying to keep the batters on their toes; throwing in some rise balls when I got ahead, but mainly just curveballs outside. I was just so excited. We haven’t been able to play in a few days, and we lost our first home game (to Hunterdon Central on April 1), which was tough, and we lost against them last year, so that was kind of in the back of our minds.”

The Falcons beat the Greyhounds, 1-0, in their only meeting last year. Northern worked an entire game for a run it never got. This time, the run came in the first inning.

Bondoc bounced a running slap toward third base and legged out the first of just five hits the Greyhounds managed of Burlington Township pitcher Bailey Enoch.

She tried for second a moment later.

“I just saw that she (Township’s Mackenzie Fitzpatrick) was a left-handed catcher, so it was easier for me to steal, with a right-handed batter up,” Bondoc said. “As soon as I saw it go past the centerfielder I just went on home.”

Fitzpatrick’s throw was too high for the infield, took an odd hop and evaded the outfield as well. Bondoc popped up to her feet and came all the way around.

“I saw coach’s excitement when I was turning third,” Bondoc said. “I was like, OK, I got it.”

The Greyhounds (1-1, 1-0) doubled their advantage with help from two more first-inning errors. Julia Mayernick reached on a bad throw a moment later and came all the way around on a single by Madison Sisz down the third-base line and a throwing error.

“Honestly, it just gave me an immediate stress reliever,” Archer said. “It took a lot of pressure off me, securing that first run and getting the lead. We played against a great team, and we knew it was going to be a low-scoring, tough game.”

It was an uneventful one after that. The Greyhounds managed five hits off Enoch, but only twice managed to get a runner as far as second base.

Northern’s frustration was nothing compared to Burlington Township’s.

“I think there were a lot of jitters going on,” Burlington Township coach Nicolette Cannizzaro said. “We just talked about it, post game. After that (first inning), they cleaned everything up a little bit.”

There was no solving Archer, though. Not this time. The teams will face each other again at Township on May 7.

“This is a really good, competitive league; that’s for sure,” Cannizzaro said. “We did talk about some goals and what we want out of the season. I just said to them, you get another chance. It’s not over.”