STEUBENVILLE — Nate Karaffa’s senior season has been tough to say the least.

Bouncing back from a partially torn hamstring, the Ohio State commit missed most of the football season but came back in time to become a Division IV co-player of the year in the Eastern District in basketball.

On the diamond, though, Toronto coach Brian Perkins has been cautious. Monday’s Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class 2A title contest against Steubenville Catholic was his second start on the mound this season (third time overall).

To say Karaffa was well-rested is an understatement. He was one walk and one hit away from throwing a perfect game, while striking out 13 hitters during the Red Knights’ 4-0 victory.

“Injuries are tough, especially playing three sports. It happens to athletes working hard every day,” Karaffa said. “I’m just happy to be able to come back out with my friends and pitch with confidence against a very good hitting team like that. They’ve been playing some good baseball and against good teams throughout the season. Just to get a win against that team is really good.”

The only time the Crusaders (9-7) had a runner in scoring position was the second inning. Matt Bell, the opposing pitcher, walked to lead off and later stole second.

Steubenville Catholic’s lone hit was a two-out single by Noah Fayak in the sixth inning and was stranded on first. In the seventh, a screaming line drive from Dom Argentine found Karaffa’s glove.

“Obviously he’s been dealing with an injury all year, so we knew we had to get him on the bump and fire a few innings before this one,” Perkins said. “He came out (Monday) against a very good Central team and did a fantastic job of commanding his pitches, throwing strikes and keeping them off balance. Our kids really fed off of that.

“Nate’s pitched for us for four years now. He’s been throwing all year, but we had to get him more game experience. We don’t expect anything different. We knew he was going to come out and throw well tonight.”

Offensively, Bell matched Karaffa for four of his six innings of work. The other two are a different story.

Nick Sninchak led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run to left field, giving Toronto a 1-0 advantage.

“That was a big hit from someone who’s been my best friend forever,” Karaffa said. “That’s just a big hit, and he deserved it.”

The sixth inning is when the Red Knights (14-5) finally strung hits together. With the bases loaded and one away, Lucas Gulczynski hit a sacrifice fly to right. Then, Karaffa helped his own cause with a two-run double to center field.

Karaffa is the first to admit he didn’t get all of it, as the ball was blooped. However, the Crusader center fielder slipped, and the two middle infielders were unable to get there in time.

“Whatever it takes to win, I’m not worried about individual stats,” he said. “Those two RBI helped. It helped my case on the mound a little, too.”

“We always talk about working pitch counts and getting good pitches,” Perkins said. “Hopefully, we can work good pitchers and break through by the end. Our guys were able to that.

“Nick did a great job of getting that home run to loosen things up. That kind of got us going.”

Besides those two frames, Bell was dominant. He struck out three, walked one and hit a batter over the complete-game defeat.

“You’re not going to beat many teams with only one hit. All the credit goes to Nate for throwing a heck of a game,” Steubenville Catholic coach Don Young said. “I thought Matt threw a heck of a game, minus one pitch in the second inning and the three runs. That little bit of room really helped them.

“I thought it was a good effort in a good game against two well-matched teams. We just didn’t put the ball in play enough. You have to get the ball in play hard. It’s tough to do that against a guy who’s very talented.”