Nick Peters struck out nine in his shutout of the Middleboro Bolts.

Peters got into trouble in the first inning when Middleboro had first and third with no outs and then loaded the bases with one out, but was able to escape the inning unscathed. In the bottom frame, the offense gave him a cushion when Derek Miller led off with a triple to center and was doubled in by the next batter, Tim Norton. Nate Weber made it 2-0 Warriors with a single scoring Norton before the inning was out.

Peters put the tying runs on base in the second, but again was able to escape trouble and South Shore got another run in the bottom of the inning when Michael Bradley scored on a single by Miller.

The Warriors added another run in the top of the seventh when Logan Arena scored on an error, but Peters had already taken command of the game. The Stonehill righty held the Bolts hitless after the third inning and struck out nine in the complete game.

“He started shaky, but he got stronger and stronger as the game went on,” said manager John Pesente. “He’s got outstanding stuff and, once he gets that changeup to get down, he’s dominating.”

Like Peters, O’Brien had a shaky start to his game against Rockland, giving the Cardinals scoring chances with walks. However, he was able to pitch his way out of trouble by getting seven of his eight strikeouts with runners in scoring position and went the distance allowing one unearned run.

“He’s an excellent pitcher,” Pesente said of O’Brien. “He pitched a good, solid game.”

Dave O’Brien  held the second-place Rockland Cardinals to one unearned run while striking out eight in a complete-game victory in Rockland on Sunday.

Despite being disappointed with his team’s 8-3 loss in the second game against the Cardinals, Pesente said he was still happy to come away with two points against the second place team in the league.

“We would have liked to have gotten two, but we can’t be too dissatisfied with the split,” he said. “They’re a great team, so to get the split was good.”

The two wins gave the Warriors a total of 26 points, putting them in a tie with Braintree for fifth place in the standings. With eight games remaining, Pesente said the team is still right in the hunt for one of the five spots in the Stan Musial Tournament allocated to the Cranberry League.

“The only one who is really assured of a spot is Easton,” he said. “We’re right in the hunt and the team is playing well, that’s what has got me really optimistic.”