“Attitude and effort are the keys to a successful life.”
– Bill Holowaty
The GHTBL is proud to announce the appointment of former Eastern Connecticut State University Head Baseball Coach, and 2015 National College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee, Bill Holowaty of Columbia, Connecticut, to role of League President.
Holowaty is a baseball luminary in the state of Connecticut and a veteran educator of the game. As the winningest coach in the history of New England athletics, Holowaty earned the 11th most wins by a head coach in NCAA baseball history with a 45-year record of 1404-525-7 at ECSU. He led Eastern to four NCAA Division III National Championships and was honored four times as the National Coach of the Year. In addition to winning four national championships, the ECSU Warriors posted a streak of 11 straight 30-win seasons into from 2001 to 2011. Holowaty took the Warriors to the postseason 39 out of 45 seasons, while 14 of those teams advanced to the Division III College World Series.
As a champion of instituting the NCAA Division III Baseball College World Series in the mid-1970s, Holowaty created a new standard for college baseball programs. Holowaty coached in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Chatam Anglers in 1973. He’s a past president of the American Baseball Coaches’ Association (ABCA), a long-time member of the ABCA All-America committee, one of the founders of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), and one of the founders of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA). Holowaty is also a member of the NEIBA Hall of Fame and the ABCA Hall of Fame.
Holowaty is known as an innovator, motivator, teacher, an expert facilitator, and the ultimate competitor. Though he retired from coaching in 2013, He continues to teach the fundamentals of baseball, operating the Holowaty Baseball Camp for 5-12 year old boys and girls in the Spring and Summer. His baseball values are that of pure brand of baseball. He believes in hard work, hustle and a no-nonsense approach to the game; traits that transfer from success in school, on the field and in life.
The GHTBL is grateful to Bill Holowaty for “stepping up to the plate” and taking on this leadership role at this time in his life. Over the years, he has been involved with the league various capacities. In 1966 and 1967, a young Bill Holowaty played for the Connecticut Huskies in the springtime and for the Hartford Twilight during the summer. He was a first baseman for the Hamilton Standard team under player-manager, GHTBL Hall of Fame Inductee, and former major leaguer, Wally Widholm. Holowaty attributes much of his coaching success to what he learned about the game of baseball from two his summers in the GHTBL and from mentors like Widholm.
Thereafter, Holowaty would go on to a historic coaching career. but he continued to recruit from and send players to the GHTBL for more than 45 years. Many current GHTBL players were coached by Holowaty at ESCU or were participants in his baseball camps. As the new League President, Bill Holowaty brings invaluable connections, experience, new ideas, tradition, organization, a highly motivating spirit to the GHTBL as we enter our88th season in May of 2017.
