“Attitude and effort are the keys to a successful life.”
Bill Holowaty
The Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League 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, a resident of Columbia, Connecticut, is a baseball luminary 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 college baseball coach. In 45 years at ECSU, he compiled a 1404-525-7 record. 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, ECSU posted 11 straight 30-win seasons from 2001 to 2011. He took the Warriors to the postseason 39 out of 45 seasons which amounted to 14 Division III College World Series appearances.
Holowaty created a new standard for college programs. He was an advocate in establishing the NCAA Division III Baseball College World Series in the mid-1970s. He coached in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Chatham Anglers in 1973. He’s a past president of the American Baseball Coaches’ Association (ABCA), and a longtime member of the ABCA All-America committee. Holowaty was a founder of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) and of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA). He is a member of both the NEIBA Hall of Fame and the ABCA Hall of Fame.
Though he retired from coaching in 2013, he has continued to teach baseball fundamentals at Holowaty Baseball Camp for 5-12 year old boys and girls in the spring and summer. His values are that of pure brand of baseball. He believes in hard work, hustle and a no-nonsense approach to the game; traits that translate into success on the field, in school, and in life.
The GHTBL is grateful to the Holowaty family for stepping up to the plate and taking on this leadership role. Over the years, Bill has been involved with the league in various capacities. In 1966 and 1967, a young Bill Holowaty played basketball for the Connecticut Huskies and then suited up in the Hartford Twilight during the summer. He was a first baseman for the Hamilton Standard team under player-manager Wally Widholm – a Former minor leaguer and GHTBL Hall of Fame Inductee. Holowaty attributes much of his success to what he learned from his two summers in the GHTBL with mentors like Widholm.
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. He coached several current GHTBL players at ESCU and in his baseball camps. As the new League President, Bill Holowaty brings invaluable connections, experience, new ideas, tradition, organization, a highly motivating spirit as we enter our 88th season in May of 2017.