Aug 16 7:00 PM McKenna Field Rainbow Graphics 2 M&T Bank 6	Aug 20 7:00 PM Palmer Field Bristol Greeners 1 M&T Bank 4	Aug 21 7:00 PM Palmer Field M&T Bank 2 Vernon Orioles 1	Aug 22 7:00 PM Palmer Field M&T Bank 2 Vernon Orioles 6	Aug 24 6:30 PM Palmer Field West Haven Twilight League 4 GHTBL All-Stars 3

Tag: president

Sat. 06/08/24Sat. 06/08/24 by Weston Ulbrich

Honoring the Life of Mark Foss, GHTBL President

The Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League bids a fond yet somber farewell to our former President, Mark Foss. He headed the league from 2006 to 2013.

GHTBL Executives: Mark Foss (right) with his wife Jane Foss & Jim Gallagher.

Mark and his wife Jane served the Twi-loop as steady leaders and perennial Foss Insurance franchise sponsors during the 2000s and 2010s. They were crucial directors and contributors who held the league together behind the scenes. Mark and Jane bridged the gap between generations and guided GHTBL towards a more competitive brand of baseball.

Mark was a Korean War veteran with the United States Army, a father of four children and an avid Boston Red Sox fan.

Funeral service celebrating Mark’s life will be Thursday (June 13, 2024) at 5 pm at the D’Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel, 30 Carter Street, East Hartford. Mark’s family will receive relatives and friends on Thursday afternoon from 3-5 pm at the funeral home chapel.

See more: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/east-hartford-ct/mark-foss-11848162

Sun. 04/11/21Sun. 04/11/21 by Weston Ulbrich

Bill Holowaty, Local Sports Legend

May 26, 2020

Bill Holowaty is the current President of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League and former head baseball coach at Eastern Connecticut State University. Holowaty coached for 45 years (1967-2012) at ECSU and became one of the most successful coaches in the history of New England intercollegiate athletics. He led the Warriors to the postseason 39 out of 45 times, appearing 14 times in the Division-III College World Series and winning 4 championships (1982, 1990, 1998 and 2002). He was named Division-III National Coach of the Year 4 times. Coach Holowaty ended his career record with 1,412 wins, 528 losses and 7 ties – a winning percentage of .725, and has the third most all-time wins by a Division-III coach.

William P. Holowaty was born on March 6, 1945 in Little Falls, New York. He was a gifted athlete with good size. Holowaty starred in football, basketball and baseball at Mohawk High School in Mohawk, New York. He became a top basketball recruit and 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 3 season titles in the Yankee Conference. He was later recognized as a member of the UConn Basketball All-Century Ballot.

Bill Holowaty (center), UConn Basketball, 1965.

Bill Holowaty (left), UConn Basketball, 1967.

During college, Holowaty played baseball in the Hartford Twilight League with the Hamilton Standard team. Great local players like Wally Widholm and Hal Lewis were Bill’s teammates and mentors. Immediately after his basketball career, Holowaty became head baseball coach at Eastern Connecticut State College (renamed Eastern Connecticut State University in 1983) and quickly turned the program around. In 1973, he was the assistant coach for the Chatham A’s of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Holowaty was a guiding force for instituting the NCAA Division-III baseball championship in the mid-1970s. While coaching, he also served as ECSU Athletic Director for 15 years.

Bill Holowaty, ECSU Baseball Coach, 1969.

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

Bill Holowaty, ECSU Basketball Assistant, 1971.

New England All-Star Game at Fenway Park, 1979.

Coach Holowaty celebrating the holidays at home plate, 1980.

Bill Holowaty, ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 1982.

Holowaty featured in Hartford Courant, 1983.

Bill Holowaty, ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 1985.

Bill Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1986.

Coach Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1987.

Coach Holowaty, Eastern Connecticut, 1989.

Bill Holowaty built his coaching legacy upon competitiveness, consistency and fundraising. His vision for success included a Varsity and Junior Varsity team, 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. 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 was quoted saying,

Eastern Connecticut wins D-III College World Series, 2002.

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

Bill Holowaty, ECSU Head Baseball Coach, 2012.

“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.”
– Bill Holowaty

Holowaty Baseball Camp, Pomfret, Connecticut, 2014.

Holowaty speaks to Connecticut Mustangs AAU program, 2016.

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 long-time member of the ABCA All-America committee and is currently a member of the ABCA Board of Directors.

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

Bill Holowaty remains a fierce competitor to this day. He enjoys 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.

GHTBL donates to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, 2018.

Jan, Bill and Jennifer Holowaty at the 2018 NEIBA Hall of Fame induction, 2018.

Coach Holowaty (right) with other college coaches at the annual American Baseball Coaches Association conference, 2019.

Coach Holowaty inducted into the National Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame

Sat. 03/04/17Wed. 04/17/24 by Weston Ulbrich

Holowaty Named GHTBL President

“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.

Bill Holowaty, former Eastern Connecticut State University Head Baseball Coach, 1986.

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.

Bill Holowaty, National College Baseball Hall of Fame, 2015.

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.

GHTBL Meeting at the Holowaty residence, 2017.

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.