Two local high school pitchers — one in baseball, the other in softball — were recently able to accomplish a rare feat most only dream about.

Columbia senior right-handed pitcher JT Broshears rebounded from a poor first outing of the season in a big way last Tuesday, throwing a five-inning no-hitter in the Eagles’ 10-0 win at Steeleville.

And then on Saturday, Gibault freshman Lexi Poepper no-hit Althoff in a 20-0 short-game win at Waterloo.

In fact, only a hit batsman and a fielding error prevented Broshears from being perfect on the day, while Poepper struck out 10 of the 16 batters she faced on the day in the 20-0, five-inning win, with one walk and one batter who reached base on an error.

“I definitely felt better than last week,” Broshears said of his masterful mound effort.

He took the loss in a 9-2 defeat at the hands of O’Fallon on March 24.

Cameron Touchette went 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run and three RBIs to lead the offensive charge. Six other Eagles also collected two hits each in the win.

But the game was all about Broshears, who admitted he “kind of knew” about the no-no about midway through but had blocked it out of his mind until the fifth inning.

“My buddy Zach (Mathews) said something to me in the fifth and I thought he would jinx it,” Broshears said with a chuckle. “It made me a little nervous, but I’m glad it worked out.”

Columbia head coach Keith Jany said Broshears had full command of his fastball and off-speed pitches all game, keeping the Steeleville hitters off-balance.

“JT did a great job,” Jany said. “It was especially nice to see him rebound from the O’Fallon game, where he didn’t have his best stuff.

The defense played great behind him.”

For Poepper, Saturday was her first game back from injury after having suffered a high-ankle sprain.

The daughter of Paul and Stacy Poepper of Waterloo, the right-handed throwing Lexi allowed one walk and another to reach base on an error, but was otherwise perfect in collecting her first high school victory.

She struck out 10 of the 16 batters she faced on the day in the 20-0, five-inning win. Poepper also helped her own cause at the plate, collecting two hits.

“It was very exciting,” Poepper told the Republic-Times by phone on Monday night. “Everyone was excited for me. I’m really still absorbing it all.”

Similar to Broshears, a teammate almost jinxed it for her.

“I did not know until one of the girls told me in about the fourth inning and I thought ‘Oh no, don’t blow it for me,'” Poepper said. “I was kind of nervous, but I knew I had a good defense playing behind me.”

Gibault head softball coach Dave Gregson had high praise for the freshman.

“All of her pitches were working and she did a great job of keeping the hitters off-balance,” he said. “I am very excited about her being one of the Gibault pitchers for the next four years.”