THE PREPS : A Leg to Stand On : La Quinta’s Livernois Puts Off Surgery in Order to Play Baseball

C.J. Livernois’ easiest moment this baseball season was his first.

He stepped to the plate in the first inning of La Quinta’s first game and homered. No need to tear around the bases, wondering when that fragile right knee was going to turn to putty.

These days, Livernois takes things one step at a time. He is finishing off his high school career with a limp--thanks to an injured knee from football--but he’s determined to finish standing.

“The doctor gave me two choices, have surgery right away or play with a brace,” Livernois said. “It was no choice. I was going to play.”

To the naked eye, there has been little drop in ability.

Livernois, a second baseman, is hitting .345 and has been solid in the field. He twice saved the Aztecs against Garden Grove last week, covering ground quickly to take hits away in a 5-4 victory. La Quinta is 12-1-1, and ranked fifth in Orange County.

But there are moments, difficult ones, when his limitations show.

“Last week, C.J. will hit a grounder and I heard someone behind the dugout say, ‘He’s dogging it,’ ” Coach Dave Demarest said. “I turned around and said, ‘The guy’s playing on one leg.’ ”

This was not how Livernois envisioned his senior season. The Aztecs were coming off a Southern Section 3-A championship--the first baseball title in the school’s history.

Livernois had a sensational junior season. He hit .423 and had 47 hits, breaking Troy Paulsen’s single-season school record.

“C.J.’s probably one of the top five players in the county when he’s healthy,” Demarest said.

There’s the catch. Livernois hasn’t been healthy since early in the football season and has his own determination to blame.

Livernois, the Aztecs’ quarterback, threw an interception in the second game of the season. He then took off, trying to catch the player who picked off the pass. He never saw the block coming, but he felt it.

“I planted and this guy nailed me from behind,” Livernois said. “I didn’t think it was that bad at first.”

In the next three weeks, Livernois’ knee gave out twice in games even though no one hit him. Both times, he was rolling out as the knee buckled.

“The last time it happened, Coach Demarest said, ‘Maybe someone’s trying to tell you something,’ ” Livernois said.

That would be the doctor.

“He said no more football,” Livernois said. “He said to rest the knee and it would get better.”

It might have, had Livernois not tripped over a pipe running to his next-door neighbor’s house in December.

“The doctor looked at it and in five seconds said, ‘It’s a torn ligament,’ ” Demarest said.

So Livernois had his two choices. He decided to postpone surgery until after the season, then sit out next year before playing at a community college.

All he needed was a brace to play baseball this year.

“We left the decision up to him,” Carol Livernois said. “It was his senior year and he wanted to see it through. He felt it was more important to finish his high school career.”

He’s doing so with some limitations.

Livernois gingerly leaves the batter’s box, as if the first step could be a doozy. He saw teammate Craig Kuzmic tear hip muscles bolting from the box last season. And Kuzmic, Livernois points out, had a healthy hip at the time. So Livernois usually takes it easy on those routine ground balls.

He also doesn’t get to as many grounders in the field and doesn’t expect to steal a base.

“It’s frustrating sometimes. An infielder will drop a ball and he’ll still throw me out,” Livernois said.

Said Demarest: “Triples are now doubles and doubles are singles for him.”

Still, there are moments when instinct takes over.

Last week against Garden Grove, Livernois went far to his right to make a diving stop, then threw out the runner.

Then, with two outs in the eighth and the Aztecs leading by a run, Livernois went to his left for a grounder that had rolled past first baseman Jon Gibson. Livernois dived for the ball, then threw to pitcher Corey Fox for the game’s final out.

“I thought it was a hit,” Demarest said. “I don’t know how C.J. got over there. That’s a good play on two good legs.”