Bill Holowaty, Local Sports Legend

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May 26, 2020

Bill Holowaty is the current President of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League and the former head coach at Eastern Connecticut State University. Holowaty coached for 45 years (1968-2013) at Eastern and became one of the most successful coaches in New England intercollegiate athletics.

2010 Bill Holowaty ECSU Baseball — Coach Bill Holowaty, 2010.

He led the Warriors to the postseason 39 out of 45 times, appearing in 14 Division-III College World Series and winning four championships (1982, 1990, 1998 and 2002). He was named Division-III National Coach of the Year four times. Coach Holowaty completed his career record with 1,412 wins, 528 losses and 7 ties – a winning percentage of .725, and third in all-time wins by a Division-III coach.

1965 Bill Holowaty UConn Basketball — Bill Holowaty (center), UConn Basketball, 1965.

1965 Uconn Basketball Team BIll Holowaty — 1965 UConn Basketball Team

1967 UConn Basketball Team Bill Holowaty — 1967 UConn Basketball Team

1967 Connecticut Baseketball Bill Holowaty — Bill Holowaty (left), UConn Basketball, 1967.

William P. Holowaty was born on March 6, 1945 in Little Falls, New York. He was a gifted athlete with good size. He starred in football, basketball and baseball at Mohawk High School in Mohawk, New York. As a top basketball recruit, he visited Dean Smith’s University of North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest before deciding on the University of Connecticut. Coach Fred Shabel’s Huskies included UConn greats like Toby Kimball, Wes Bialosuknia and Tom Penders. Holowaty played basketball at UConn from 1964 to 1967, winning three season titles in the Yankee Conference and was later recognized as a member of the UConn Basketball All-Century Ballot.

1969 Eastern Connecticut Baseball Bill Holowaty — Bill Holowaty, ECSU Baseball Coach, 1969.

1970 Bill Holowaty Eastern Connecticut — Bill Holowaty (right), ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 1970.

1970 Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball Team 1 — 1970 Eastern Connecticut Baseball

1971 Bill Holowaty with Basketball Coaches 1 — Bill Holowaty, ECSU Basketball Assistant, 1971.

As a college athlete, Holowaty entered the Hartford Twilight League in the summer of 1966 with the Hamilton Standard team. Great local players like Wally Widholm and Hal Lewis were teammates and mentors. Then he became head baseball coach at Eastern Connecticut State College in 1968 (renamed Eastern Connecticut State University in 1983) and quickly turned the program into a competitor.

1979 Bill Holowaty 300 Wins — Holowaty earns 300 wins, 1979.

1979 Bill Holowaty Eastern Connecticut Fenway Park — New England All-Star Game at Fenway Park, 1979.

By 1973, he was also assistant coach for the Chatham A’s of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Holowaty was a guiding force for instituting the NCAA Division-III national baseball championship in the mid-1970s. While coaching, he also served as ECSU Athletic Director for 15 years.

1980 Eastern Connecticut State College Baseball Team — 1980 ECSU Baseball Team

1980 Bill Holowaty ECSU Baseball Santa Hat — Coach Holowaty celebrating the holidays, 1980.

1982 Bill Holowaty Eastern Connecticut Baseball — Bill Holowaty, ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 1982.

1983 Holowaty Tough on Eastern Players — Holowaty featured in Hartford Courant, 1983.

1984 Bill Holowaty Eastern Connecticut Baseball — Bill Holowaty and Jason Holowaty, 1984.

1985 Bill Holowaty ECSU Baseball — Bill Holowaty, ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 1985.

1986 Bill Holowaty Eastern Connecticut State University — Bill Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1986.

1987 Coach Bill Holowaty 2 — Coach Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1987.

1987 Coach Bill Holowaty — Coach Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1987.

1988 Alliance Taps Holowaty ESCU Baseball — Holowaty receives Gold Key, 1988.

1989 Bill Holowaty Eastern Baseball Coach — Coach Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1989.

1990 Bill Holowaty ECSU Baseball — Coach Holowaty, 1990.

He built his coaching legacy upon competitiveness, consistency and fundraising. His vision for success included Varsity and Junior Varsity teams, Spring Training trips to Florida and a state-of-the-art ballpark in Willimantic, Connecticut. The ECSU Warriors posted at least 30 wins in 28 seasons under Holowaty leading to four national championships.

1993 Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball — 1993 Eastern Connecticut Baseball

1993 ECSU Baseball Bill Holowaty — 1993 Eastern Connecticut Baseball

1998 Bill Holowaty Head Baseball Coach Eastern Connecticut State — Coach Bill Holowaty, 1998.

2000 Holowaty Eastern — Nick Tempesta and Bill Holowaty, 2000.

2000 Coach Bill Holowaty ECSU — Coach Holowaty wins 1000th game, 2002.

2002 Bill Holowaty Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball — Eastern Connecticut wins D-III College World Series, 2002.

In 2003, the Warriors lost the Division-III College World Series championship game in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded. Afterwards Holowaty said, “We’ll be back again. It’s like putting on a Red Sox uniform; you are hoping to win a World Series. You put on a Yankee uniform and you are expected to win. You put on an Eastern uniform and you’re expected to win.”

2015 Bill Holowaty National College Baseball Hall of Fame — The Holowaty Family at National College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction, 2002.

2003 Bill Hololwaty ECSU Baseball Head Coach — Coach Bill Holowaty, 2003.

2012 Coach Bill Holowaty ECSU — Bill Holowaty, ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 2012.

In the final stage of his career, Holowaty continued to win. His Warriors had a streak of 11 consecutive 30-win seasons into 2012. The team fell one win shy of extending that streak in 2013. As a result of his success, Coach Holowaty earned several accolades and was inducted into the following Hall of Fame organizations: ABCA, Greater Utica Sports, National College Baseball, NEIBA and the Eastern Connecticut State University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a co-founder of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA). He served as ABCA President, was a longtime member of the ABCA All-America committee and the ABCA Board of Directors.

2014 Holowaty Baseball Camp — Holowaty Baseball Camp, Pomfret, Connecticut, 2014.

2016 Bill Holowaty Baseball Camp — Holowaty speaks to Connecticut Mustangs AAU program, 2016.

2016 Bill Holowaty Golfing — Coach Holowaty playing golf, 2016.

2017 Holowaty Family — The Holowaty Family, 2017.

2017 Evan Chamberlain and Bill Holowaty Marlborough Braves — Evan Chamberlain and Bill Holowaty at Dunkin’ Donuts Park, Hartford, 2017.

2017 Bill Holowaty Twilight Baseball — Bill Holowaty, GHTBL President, 2017.

2018 Bill Holowaty and Andy Baylock — Andy Baylock and Bill Holowaty, 2017.

Bill Holowaty remains a fierce competitor to this day. He enjoys watching baseball and playing golf regularly with friends and family. He spends much of his time with his wife Jan Holowaty, his children Jason, Jennifer, Jared and his grandchildren. Jason and Jared Holowaty played professional baseball in Australia after college and carved out their own careers in baseball. Bill attributes much of his family’s success to his wife Jan and often mentions their shared love of sports.