"High School Musical" In Real Life

(CBS)  High school jock meets the star of the drama department and falls head over heels. Suddenly one of the best athletes in the country is singing and dancing ... sound familiar?

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy has the story of a real-life "High School Musical."

Cody Buckel is Royal High School's man on the mound.

"I'm a good pitcher. I'm not going to lie about that," said the 16-year-old Buckel.

This junior is actually one of the best high school pitchers in the nation. His fastball has been clocked at 92 miles per hour.

"Right now if he was a senior, he'd be drafted in the first two rounds because he throws harder than everyone that we've seen," said Dan Maye, a coach at Royal High School.

But life has thrown Cody a curveball. When he caught the eye of the drama club president Rachel Eisner, she hatched a plan.

"If I could get him into what I love, that maybe he'd enjoy it, he'd stick around and I'd get to spend a little more time with him," Eisner said.

So now one of the top teen athletes in the country is living out the plot of the "High School Musical" movie by starring as Troy in a stage production of the show.

"He goes, 'Hey, I got the lead.' I said 'Well what does that mean?' He says 'Well, I got to go to rehearsal, I'm going to be a singer,'" said Maye.

Cody tried to keep his acting on the down-low because, just like in the movies, jocks and drama kids don't mix.

Buckel's teammates have had a good sense of humor about Buckel's new endeavor from the start.

"What a weird kid," said Cory Lavalle, Buckel's teammate.

So between baseball, rehearsals and maintaining his 3.9 GPA, Buckel is one busy guy - and one "very tired" guy, he adds.

"Last night I went to rehearsal and actually fell asleep in the back corner," Buckel said. "Someone had to wake me up when my scene was coming on."

Lavalle admits that teasing Buckel is all in good fun.

But in this real-life Hollywood ending, love conquers all.

"We're working together. We're doing basically a job together. And it's so much fun to be up on stage together," said Buckel.

"Cody gave me this necklace, which is a 'C' for him," Eisner said. "And in the second 'High School Musical,' Troy gives Gabriela a 'T.'"

The happy couple hopes that the real cast of "HSM" will come to see their version of the musical.

"They'd better come," Buckel joked.

And in case any agents out there are interested, Cody and company present their production of "High School Musical" in Simi Valley, Calif., starting April 23.