Working his dream gig

Collin Balester had a few hours to kill before he had to report for work Friday, but he was more than anxious for his shift to begin.

After all, he says he’s working his “dream job.” Balester was the starting pitcher in Milwaukee last Friday where his team, the Washington Nationals, was hours away from taking on the Brewers.

It’s been a whirlwind of a month for the former Huntington Beach High star, who was activated July 1 to the Major Leagues. That same day, he made his big-league debut against the host Florida Marlins, less than a month after his 22nd birthday.

“It’s something I have been wanting to do my whole life,” Balester said from the lobby of the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. “I’ve been thinking about this moment since I was 5 years old.”

Balester, who is 2-4 this season with a 4.66 earned-run average, had been listed among Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospects in the Washington Nationals/Expos system in every season since Montreal selected the 6-foot-5, 194-pound right-handed pitcher out of Huntington Beach High in the fourth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

“I’ll never forget that moment when they told me I was being called up,” he said, as though he were reliving the moment. “To say I was excited was an understatement. My heart was racing, but I was ready for the opportunity.

“When I got to the stadium for that first game, it was freakin’ unbelievable, but it was real. I was about to live my dream.”

Balester’s first big league start couldn’t have gone any better: he earned his first Major League win when the Nationals defeated the Marlins, 9-6. He gave up just one hit and a run and struck out three in five innings.

The best part, he said, was that his first start and initial victory played out before his family, girlfriend and his high school baseball coach at Huntington Beach High, Benji Medure.

“He was a special pitcher in high school because he always wanted the ball in any situation,” Medure said.

“I was at his house when he got drafted in 2004 and I told him that if he ever made it to the big leagues, I would be at his first game. So when I got his call a couple of weeks ago, I was on a plane to Florida two days later. I would not have missed that game for anything.”

Balester was the team’s Most Valuable Player and earned All-Sunset League honors for the Oilers in 2004, when they won just the third baseball title in the school’s 100-year history. He was one of the top pitchers in Orange County his senior year.

Balester collected his second win on Aug. 3, when the Nationals defeated Cincinnati, 4-2. Last Friday, he was saddled with a loss at Milwaukee in a five-inning performance. He is scheduled to start today’s home game against the New York Mets.

Later this month, the Nationals will host the Dodgers in a three-game series beginning Aug. 26. Balester had made his first trip west with the team on July 25 when Washington began a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. He didn’t see action in any of those games.

“It was awesome to play in Dodger Stadium, but I was a little bummed about that I wasn’t able to pitch there,” he said. “I had my family and a lot of friends out for those games. “I did, though, get to pitch a few days earlier on our trip to San Francisco. That was great. I hope to pitch against the Dodgers in this next series.

“I thank God everyday for this great opportunity. Day-in and day-out, I go into the office with a smile on my face. And I leave everyday with that smile still there.”

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.