No longer driving baseballs around ball parks, Jeff Perkins is spending his days driving a lawn mower around the well-manicured fields at Saint Anselm as a member of the college’s grounds crew.

The four-year Keene State College standout and Dunbarton native said he enjoys sprucing up the St. A athletic facilities, including the baseball field where, as a player at Goffstown High School, he played several first-round tournament games.

“It’s a really nice field,” said Perkins, “but not as nice as my home field at Keene State.”

You can’t blame Perkins for favoritism. As the team’s centerfielder and leadoff hitter the past four seasons, he not only set Owl career records for runs, 165; hits, 204; doubles, 45; and stolen bases, 56, but, more importantly, he helped lead KSC to a pair of NCAA tournament berths, including a first-ever Little East Conference championship his junior season.

“I would be hard pressed to find anybody who had a better four-year career than Jeff,” said KSC associate head coach Marty Testo. “When I sat down and looked at his numbers, it was unbelievable.”

Named to All-New England, All-ECAC, and All-LEC teams as a senior, Perkins’ success transcended numbers. His range as centerfielder took him to the deepest parts of ball parks, where he’d catch most every ball he could reach. As leadoff hitter, he reached base nearly 60 percent of his plate appearances. Most important, consistency was his calling card.

“That’s the way I always played,” Perkins said. “I’ve never been a hot-shot trying to hit home runs. I just show up and do the same thing every day.” Perkins credits his father, Ken, for instilling in him a plate discipline that left pitchers shaking their heads.

“He got me to understand the importance of getting on base,” Perkins said. “He really opened my eyes to the possibility of playing with limited power and still making an impact on the game.”

After earning all-state honors and helping Goffstown High challenge for Class L supremacy, Perkins refined his skills with the help of Greg LaRocca, a local hitting instructor who once played in the Cleveland Indians organization, and Ken Connerty, a former coach at UMass-Lowell.

Though he had several college options and spent a year Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn., Perkins’ decision to roam the vast expanse of Owl Stadium’s center field brought a smile to the face of KSC coach Ken Howe, who recruited Perkins heavily out of high school and stayed in contact with him while he attended prep school.

“When they first told me about the history of the position at Keene State, I took it with a grain of salt,” said Perkins. “After I realized how important it was, my goal was to carry the torch for four years.”

Perkins’ arrival at KSC in 2006 marked a renaissance in the program’s fortunes. The Owls posted their first 30-win season and tied long-time conference rival Eastern Connecticut for the regular-season Little East championship. However, they lost a pair of hard-fought games to the Warriors in the LEC tournament finals.

“I could sense the disappointment among the upperclassmen,” Perkins said. “I really understood the magnitude for the team to reach the postseason tournament.”

The following year, KSC earned its long awaited at-large berth to the NCAA tournament and, a year later, captured its first outright conference tournament title.

Perkins’ average climbed to .391 his junior season, and the Owls earned redemption in the conference tourney. Climbing out of the losers’ bracket, KSC defeated ECSU, 1-0, with former Goffstown High teammate Jamie Morin tossing a three-hitter. The next day, Keene State swept Southern Maine to win the crown.

Perkins culminated his KSC career with a senior season that included a .453 batting average and team-high 57 runs scored. He hit safely in 35 of 41 games. Perkins consistently let his bat do his talking.

“I’ve always been a pretty reserved, quiet kid,” he said. “It’s just who I am, and sports doesn’t change who I am. If anything, it’s helped me build my character.”

Perkins, who earned his degree in safety studies with a minor in criminal justice, said he will miss his teammates, “from the guys who were on my side on the field to the guys who got cut in the fall. They were there the whole time, supporting me.”