RINER -- Had Luke Watson been a race car instead of a high school athlete, he would have been in the pits by now.

At least two threadbare tires would need to be changed, caved-in sheet metal on the driver's side would have to be beaten and banged into a semblance of shape and half a roll of duct tape would have been needed to take care of the rest of the damage.

Did somebody say something about rest?

None's coming anytime soon for Auburn High School's most versatile athlete. As long as he's standing, he's playing.

It's baseball season now and the wear and tear of back-to-back-to-back varsity seasons should be showing. Yet the Eagles' stout-hearted sophomore soldiers on.

"Nothing hurts too bad now," he said.

How would he know how much he should be hurting to begin with, though? He hasn't stopped long enough to take inventory of all his moving parts.

Speaking of moving, that's what Watson's world was doing when basketball season started for him this winter. Everything was moving, round and round. It's true that some people like to feel as if they've just come out of the spin cycle in a giant washing machine, the proof being the long lines at the twirly rides when the carnival's in town.

It's tough to shoot baskets in that condition. Truth be known, some people would have a time just trying to stay on their feet instead collapsing in a dizzy-headed heap.

"I got a concussion in football in the seventh game of the season," said the team's quarterback. "I started the next game, but not the last."

The reason he didn't start had nothing to do with his health. The occasion was senior night. He was back under center shortly.

By the time basketball preseason rolled around, his skull was still rolling.

"I was spinning circles," he said.

It makes one queasy just thinking about it. Watson didn't quit, though, because he's one of those guys who doesn't know how. When it comes to basketball, Watson's game is more heart than art, but nobody played harder.

Now it's baseball season and Watson is coach Eric Altizer's team's top player. The only problem Altizer has had with him is trying to figure out where Watson is best deployed. After batting Watson third for a while, Altizer decided to move him to leadoff.

"We would have liked for him to drive in some runs, but the guys we had at the top of the order kept striking out," Altizer said. "There was nobody to drive in."

That sure changed when Watson hit the top of the lineup. Now, Watson leads or is tied for the team lead in every offensive category except home runs, triples and walks, and he's one off the pace in each of those categories. His 24 steals in 25 chances is a school record.

Here's a typical Watson plate appearance: Find a way to get on base (his on-base percentage is .451), steal second, bunted to third, score on a single.

Stealing used to be so easy, but not anymore.

"I used to steal first pitch every time," he said. "Teams started figuring that out. Now I have to vary the counts I steal on."

It has helped his base stealing to be able to think like an infielder. As you might expect, he plays shortstop, the most demanding position in the infield. He's a good one, although he can be inconsistent.

"He'll make a tremendous play deep in the hole and throw the runner out and then with the next guy, miss one hit right at him," Altizer said.

The coach doesn't complain much about that because he loves the aggressiveness Watson shows on every play, even though sometimes it gets him in trouble because he's charging the ball so hard he gets caught between hops.

The Eagles hit the start of the week one game under .500 overall. The regular season in the Three Rivers District ends next week and the district tournament starts soon thereafter. The 6-foot, 180-pound Watson is hopeful about Auburn's chances in remaining clashes.

"Sometimes guys try to do too much. Sometimes they try to make it look too pretty. Sometimes we don't hit enough," he said. "We can play at a high level and we can play at a low level, but nothing in between. We have to find the median. When we do, we're going to be all right."

At some point in the next few weeks, Watson will have a chance to catch his breath. This is likely to be his last three-sport school year. The first to go will be basketball.

"It's tough playing three sports," he said. "I admire those who can do it."

There are plenty who admire him.