Most pitchers, from youth all the way up through the professional ranks, pitch their entire careers without a no-hitter. Former Athens High School ace Bryan Nelson did it twice — on the same day.

The special day was April 23, 1982, and featured a doubleheader at Hartselle. Nelson, a junior, had never pitched a no-hitter in his life before throwing one in the first game of the doubleheader, a 1-0 Athens victory.

Nelson breezed through the first game so easily that Athens coach Will Orman asked him if he felt like starting the second game and seeing how long he could go.

“I told him I felt pretty good after the first game and was ready to pitch again,” Nelson said. “I started the second game not knowing I was going to pitch the whole game. I just kept rolling and stayed with it.”

The second game was another no-hitter, with Athens taking an 8-0 win. Nelson was quick to point out that in those days, doubleheader games were just five innings in length instead of the usual seven innings. But still, 10 innings of no-hit baseball is something very few pitchers have ever achieved.

Nelson faced 19 batters in each game. He struck out five and walked five in the first game, and struck out eight and walked four in the second.

In a newspaper article the following day, Orman said Nelson’s accomplishment was one of the greatest things he had ever seen on a baseball field.

“To pitch two no-hitters in a row is very unusual,” Orman said at the time. “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of it being done before. Bryan will probably never forget this. He was excited and very happy after the games. So were the rest of the players. Hartselle has a fine team and it wasn’t like he did it against a weak team. It was quite an accomplishment.”

Nelson, who also played shortstop and third base, finished his junior season with a 9-1 pitching record before posting another sterling 7-1 mark his senior season, which allowed him to sign a scholarship to play at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville.

But none of his wins will ever match the excitement and history of that late-April Friday afternoon at Sparkman Park in Hartselle.

“My (former) teammates do remind me about it from time to time,” Nelson said. “I still have some friends who were on that that team, and we bring it up and talk and laugh about it a little bit. It’s nice to look back on and be remembered for something special like that.”