Three months ago Blake Hawksworth sat in the Busch Stadium bullpen, baseball mitt in hand, his No. 53 uniform a vibrant shade of white.

At a moment’s notice the call from St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa, a future Hall of Famer, could come. Any second, the relief pitcher might be asked to step on the mound in front of 50,000 fans and spell 20-game winner Adam Wainwright, or three-time All-Star Chris Carpenter.

Fast forward to December, and the 27-year-old Sammamish native is far from the bright lights of any big league stadium.

Hidden in the confines of Eastlake High’s dimly-lit gym, Hawksworth is doing something very few, if any, baseball players of his caliber will ever attempt — he’s coaching high school basketball.

“It’s just so different from what I do,” said Hawksworth, who finished the 2010 season with a 4-8 record, 4.98 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 90 innings. “To get in here and be just kind of a regular guy and just kind of blend in with the whole basketball thing is refreshing.”

The 2001 Eastlake graduate assisted his alma mater during his minor league days, helping the program in 2003 and 2005. This is his first time coaching since getting called up by St. Louis in June 2009.

Hawksworth’s choice to return was made simple when Brian Dailey was hired as the head coach in the summer. The duo attended school together from fifth grade through a year of Bellevue College, and have remained best friends since.

“It’s just one of those things, you’ve got to be a part of it — just to see him coach,” Hawksworth said.

Dailey, who recently returned from playing professional basketball in Israel, wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We have a lot of dreams that we’ve talked about in life and this was one of them,” he said. “It happened quicker than we thought.”

Dailey said Hawksworth was a talented basketball player, noting he was the first in their group of friends who could dunk a ball.

“He was always really confident, he always felt like his next shot was going in, and it wasn’t always going in,” said Dailey, cracking a smile.

Jokes aside, the first-year head coach is thrilled to have someone with Hawksworth’s life experience on his staff.

“He’s a professional, he’s got high character, he’s a great guy,” Dailey said. “The best thing he brings is him just being himself.”

That example is obvious to the Eastlake players.

“With him being a professional baseball player you know he’s put in a lot of hard work for what he’s become,” senior guard Abdu Elkugia said. “He’s a living example that hard work pays off.”

Hard work is a definite focus of Hawksworth, who brings his work ethic with him to the court every day.

“He doesn’t take anything halfway,” senior guard Conner Iraola said. “He always goes full tilt. If we’re not going hard he’s always on us.”

Hawksworth said he’s enjoyed his time with the Wolves this season. In between baseball training at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Center, he attends all Eastlake basketball games practices.

You won’t see Hawksworth on the bench during games, however. He opts to sit in the stands with his wife Courtney.

“I try to sit by my wife because I know she’ll keep me in check and just try to watch the game from another perspective,” he said.

More importantly Hawksworth said he has to leave early for Spring Training, and doesn’t want to disrupt the team.

“I just want that bench to be consistent for them,” he said. “I was up front with the team when the season started, if it’s baseball related obviously I’ve got to do some stuff.”

Hawksworth, who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001 and spent his entire career in their farm system, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in late November. He will head for Arizona on Feb. 13 — the reporting date for pitchers and catchers.

Until then, he hopes positively impact the Eastlake basketball program in every way possible.

“Obviously I’m not a basketball player, but I’ve been in this gym, I’ve played here and in a sense made it out to the next level,” he said. “I think on a bigger scale I want to impact these kids off the court and be a positive role model for them. I think it’s important.”

For the entire Q&A with Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Blake Hawksworth go to the Issaquah and Sammamish Reporter sports blog, The End Zone, at www.blogs.issaquah-reporter.com/endzone. Find out what it was like to take the Major League mound for the first time, who the most interesting players are in MLB and how scary it was to take a line drive off his face.