Bill Holowaty compiled a 45-year record of 1,404-525-7 at Eastern Connecticut State University. Eastern Connecticut State athletics photo

LUBBOCK, Texas - Regardless of the level of success, coaches and athletes who toil on the Division III level are rarely credited with the success bestowed upon their counterparts at the Division I level.

Sometimes, however, the achievements are so overwhelming that they permeate the conversation usually reserved for those who reside in the national limelight.

Such is the case of former Eastern Connecticut State University head baseball coach Bill Holowaty, who has been selected for enshrinement in a Hall of Fame for at least the fifth time.

Holowaty, who retired in 2013 as the winningest coach in the history of New Englad third-winningest bnd athletics at any level anaseball coach in Division III history, was named one of eight Class of 2015 inductees into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame (NCBHOF). The announcement was made by Mike Gustafson, the organization’s executive director.

Holowaty, who compiled a 45-year record of 1,404-525-7 at Eastern, will join a host of other baseball luminaries being honored, a list which includes fellow former coaches Larry Hays of Lubbock Christian University and Texas Tech and Joe Arnold of Florida Southern University.

Additional inductees include former Division I National Player-of-the-Year Lance Berkman from Rice University; former two-time NAIA All-America pitcher Al Holland from North Carolina A&T; former National Player-of-the-Year and Golden Spikes winner Mike Kelly from Arizona State University; former National Player-of-the-Year Rick Reichardt of the University of Wisconsin; and former St. John’s University All-America pitcher Frank Viola, who went on to win the Cy Young and World Series MVP awards.

"This class features players and coaches with some incredible superlatives," said Gustafson. “There are some unique and outstanding accomplishments by the individuals in this class."

This year's class will be inducted as a part of the annual celebration of college baseball June 28-29 in Lubbock, Texas,

Holowaty led Eastern to four NCAA Division III national championships and was honored four times as the national coach of the year. His 1,404 wins trail only 2009 inductee Gordie Gillespie and 2013 inductee Don Schaly on the Division III list.

In addition to winning four national championships, the Warriors posted at least 30 wins 28 times in the last 40 seasons under the head coach and brought a streak of 11 straight 30-win seasons into  2012, when they fell one triumph shy of extending that streak.

"I'm very excited to congratulate Coach Holowaty on his induction,” offered current Eastern head baseball coach Matt LaBranche, who opposed Holowaty’s teams while head coach at Western New England for 14 seasons. “This is just one of many well-deserved honors in a storied coaching career.  For me, personally, it was a great thrill to have an opportunity to compete against his teams, a pleasure to serve on professional committees with him and an honor to be selected as the coach to carry on the tradition he built at Eastern Connecticut."

A champion of instituting the NCAA Division III baseball championship in the mid-1970s, an ABCA past president, a long-time member of the ABCA All-America committee, and one of the founders of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA), Holowaty is praised by his former coaching rival, veteran University of Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty.

“Bill was, to me, one of the two most successful coaches in the history of New England baseball,” noted Flaherty, the long-time current head baseball coach at Holowaty’s former Little East Conference rival. “The other being my college coach, John Winkin {who developed Division I University of Maine into a national program}.  This comparison shows the respect I have for Bill,” added Flaherty, who has himself led the Huskies to two national titles. “Eastern Connecticut baseball had been the benchmark for Division III baseball in New England for the last forty years, and I have tried to model my program after Bill's.  He was an innovator, motivator, teacher and an organizer, and the ultimate competitor.  At the same time, he was able to enjoy his family and friends. I miss competing against Bill, because it brought me to my highest level.”

Only one Holowaty-coached team in 44 seasons ever won less than 60 percent of its games.  Despite winning “only” 58.5 percent of its game,  that 1989 team came within an acrobatic outfield catch by its opponent  of reaching the national tournament. The following year,  the Warriors recorded the first of four 40-win campaigns,  and did advance to the national tournament,  where it proceded virtually unchallenged  to  its second national title. 

Holowaty is also a member of the American Baseball Coaches’ Association (ABCA), E-Club and Greater Utica halls of fame and recently was selected to the NEIBA Hall of Fame, whose induction ceremony will be staged this June.

The NCBHOF voting committees consists of longtime college baseball media members, active and former coaches, retired umpires, past inductees, college baseball historians and in several cases they are also former players.