Steve Perakslis wasn’t feeling well last winter but the 61-year-old Abington baseball coach attributed it to nothing more than the daily grind of getting old.

His daughter Rachel wasn’t quite willing to accept that.

A registered nurse, Rachel Perakslis was troubled by some of the symptoms that her father had been experiencing. There was an occasional loss of balance, some signs of memory loss, but the one thing which truly triggered her concern was her father talking about constantly smelling Play-Doh.

“I remember going back to nursing school days that one of the signs of a brain tumor was phantom smells,” Rachel said. “I knew something was wrong so I told him he had to get to the doctor in order to get better answers.

“My gut feeling was that (brain tumor) was a worst-case scenario, but it was better to have my father going through a complete examination. Nothing came up originally so they put him on some meds and within two weeks he got worse — he was having balance issues, he looked gray and his memory wasn’t what it once was.

“I called the doctor to suggest an MRI. That’s when they noticed he had a tumor the size of a golf ball and the swelling was so bad that it actually moved his brain.”

The diagnosis sent Steve Perakslis for a loop. From the MRI at South Shore Hospital to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for surgery happened in the span of just three days.

“I was scared, I honestly didn’t know if I was coming home,” Perakslis admitted. “It really puts a perspective on things. I have two grandchildren and a third on the way in November and wondered if I’d see them again.”

Abington is a small, tight-knit community and Perakslis is one of their own. As soon as word broke that the beloved head coach was battling a tumor, the locals rallied around him. A GoFundMe account raised more than $60,000 and former players were constantly providing emotional support to Perakslis, his wife Tracy and the rest of his family.

“I couldn’t believe it when I first heard the news, coach has done so much for so many people in Abington,” said C.J. Hillyer, a former star pitcher at the school and the winning pitcher in Perakslis’ first win more than two decades ago. “(Perakslis) and I have developed a good relationship through the years. We are always texting one another about our families and sports, especially the Red Sox.”

The surgery, performed by Dr. Omar Arnaout, was extensive because of the swelling. But the family got the news they hoped for when it was determined the tumor was benign. They got an immediate sense their father was headed in the right direction when they FaceTimed him after surgery and he was watching the NFL conference championship games.

This wasn’t the first time Rachel Perakslis’ expertise was extremely beneficial to her family. Her brother Steve was a pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization and one day noticed his arm turning blue. He immediately FaceTimed with his sister to show her the affected area.

“He was in Tennessee at the time and he called to tell me that his arm was swollen, it was red and there was numbness and tingling feeling and that it felt funny when he lifted it over his head,” Rachel Perakslis said. “I told him to go to the ER. They didn’t find anything at first, but the team trainer told him to go back. They didn’t do the ultrasound high enough the first time, so when the cardiologist saw him, he knew right away and sent him to St. Louis for surgery to remove the blood clot.”

It didn’t take long for Perkaslis to return to his normal duties as a substitute teacher as well as preparing for another season as the head baseball coach. Athletic director Peter Serino said it was like nothing ever happened to his coach.

“He was definitely back to himself,” Serino said. “He was joking around with his dry sense of humor.”

The season was full of promise in more ways than one for Perakslis. Not only was he back in the dugout (with a helmet at all times for preventive measures), he was on the verge of making school history as the winningest coach in any sport. The milestone came on April 21 when the Green Wave defeated Cardinal Spellman 7-0 giving Perakslis his 339nd career win, surpassing his high school coach Tom Graham.

“I knew coming into the season that I was close to that,” Perakslis said. “There was a time when I wasn’t sure I was going to have that opportunity, so I feel fortunate that I got a second chance because not everyone gets that.”

Diamond dandies

Latin Academy has been the dominant Boston City League softball power for the past two decades. Several of those players have gone on to play in college, the most recent group of stars being Michaela Russell (Trinity/Babson), Ellie Etemad-Gilbertson (Framingham State), Carleigh Schievink (Maine-Farmington) and Alanis Toledano (Salem State). The latter three are still playing, while Russell graduated and is an assistant coach at MIT.

Triton’s Emma Penniman cracked the 600-strikeout mark when she fanned 13 in a 5-0 win over Essex Tech. She also helped her own cause by driving in three runs. … Katie Berg had a day for the ages when she belted three home runs, drove in eight runs and scored five times in a 21-4 win over Sharon. … Cam Cloonan recorded her 100th career hit in Dighton-Rehoboth’s 4-0 win over Greater New Bedford.

Marblehead’s Tessa Francis faced 23 batters and 19 went down en route to her second no-hitter of the season in a 4-0 win over Salem. … Southeastern ace Rebecca Hornung needed just eight games to reach the 100-strikeout mark in a 12-6 win over Blue Hills.

Weymouth’s Jack Reyes etched his name into the school record book by recording his 17th career win by blanking Durfee 2-0. The Holy Cross-bound hurler fanned 11 and allowed just three hits in his latest masterpiece.