BLUFFTON — Jefferson has been pounding the cover off the baseball lately.

Bluffton right-hander Nathan Cheney put the clamps on the Wildcats’ offense Monday in a 6-1 Northwest Conference victory on a pleasant spring afternoon at Village Park in Bluffton.

“He was absolutely brilliant. I give all the credit to Cheney,” Jefferson coach Troy Montenery explained. “He made us look foolish at times. It was fun to watch the phenomenal fundamental baseball Bluffton played. The way they executed their sacrifices, even a squeeze, and their stolen bases. They outplayed us in every phase possible.”

Cheney (2-2) went the distanxe in a 104-pitch effort (57 for strikes). He ceded six hits, an earned run, walked four and fanned seven.

“He had his fastball and curve working really well. He kept them off-balance and the defense played well behind him,” Pirate coach Jason Selhorst said.

The hosts (7-6, 2-1 NWC) got to Jefferson righty Josh Miller (3-1; 5 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 6 earned runs, 4 free passes, 6 strikeouts) in the first. Devin Kisor (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) led off with a ground single up the middle and stole second. He moved to third on a bounceout to second by Gabe Goldsberry. Matt Suderman walked and stole second. An out later, back-to-back free passes to Evan Skilliter and Clay Wannemacher forced in Kisor and a 1-0 lead. With Clay Atkins at the plate, Selhorst called for a steal of home and Suderman executed, sliding under the tag of catcher Ryan Kortokrax and a 2-0 lead. Atkins fanned to end it there.

Bluffton turned the first of its two double plays in the second frame. Matt Gerdeman then walked and swiped a base but was left stranded.

The Wildcats (9-3, 4-1) got a 1-out single to left by Matt Antalis but another twin-killing: the strikeout/caught-stealing variety; ended that threat in the third.

Cheney blooped a hit down the right-field line with two outs in the home half but Kortokrax nailed him trying to steal second.

The hosts got to Miller once more in the fourth. Skilliter lined a single out of the reach of Craig Carder at third and pilfered second. An out hence, Atkins bounced out to second to get the runner to third. Joel Groman walked. Frank Falk blooped a single to short center field to plate Skilliter and a 3-0 spread. Miller committed a balk to move both runners up a base, easily scoring on a 2-run double to short left-center field by Kisor that just eluded shortstop Aaron Schuerman for a 5-0 lead.

Matt Gerdeman beat out a 1-out infield hit to short in the fifth but was left there.

Jefferson tried to rally in the sixth. With one out, Cory Bastian legged out a slow bouncer to third. An out hence, Miller walked but Cheney fanned the next batter to end the uprising.

The Pirates got their final tally in the home half, working small ball to perfection. Wannemacher laced a ground-rule double to left. Pinch-hitter Frank Long laid down a sacrifice bunt to get him to third, from whence he scored on a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze by Groman for a 6-0 lead.

“Josh got a rough first inning but he settled down. He had a couple of good innings but he got frustrated,” Montenery added. “They didn’t exactly pound out their hits; they had a lot of bloops that just were where we weren’t. They didn’t hit him hard. We lost a chance at keeping at the top of the NWC. With a big league game with Columbus Grove coming up Thursday, perhaps we were looking ahead but we can’t afford to do that. We lacked focus and concentration tonight; we can’t afford to play any game like that.”

The Wildcats didn’t go down without a fight in the seventh. Schuerman hit a 1-bounce triple to straightaway center. An out later, pinch-hitter Taylor Hesseling hit nearly the same spot for a run-scoring double. An out later, Antalis walked but Bastian bounced back to the pitcher to end the game.

“We had some clutch 2-out hits. We didn’t hit them hard but we found the holes,” Selhorst added. “We executed things very well at the plate, especially the bunts. We did a lot of damage with two strikes; that’s a sign that we were battling.”

The Pirates host Cory-Rawson tonight.

Jefferson hosts Fort Jennings Wednesday.