Harlem High senior Will Holder is on path to lead the Bulldogs to their third straight AAA Georgia High School Baseball State Championship.
Holder has been at Harlem all four seasons of his high school career, which includes the back-to-back state titles in 2023 and 2024. While Holder was able to play in the state title game in the field and at the plate last season, he was unable to be on the mound and available for the majority of the playoffs.
“It feels really good to be able to get out her with guys one last time and hopefully I can stay healthy, and we can get after it each and every game,” Holder said.
Will Holder, son of Harlem Athletic Director and 2006 and 2007 Greenbrier 4A State Championship baseball coach Rodney Holder, gave up zero runs in round one of the playoffs against Mount Zion High School in a 13-0 victory on Friday, April 25.
“He is our leader and leads by example,” said Harlem Baseball Head Coach Jimmie Lewis. “To have him on the mound is really big because he is a real good pitcher.”
Throughout his young career, Holder has had a lot of help developing him into the player and person he is today including his father, grandfather and Georgia High School Baseball Hall of Fame Head Coach Terry Holder, legendary coach Lewis and several other coaches along the way.
“It definitely helps having coaches stay up on top of you every single day and helps you develop not only as a player, but as a person,” Will Holder said. “It sets you on the track of what is right and what is wrong.”
Holder has committed and signed to play college baseball at Georgia Southern after the high school season. While Holder is focused on finishing his senior year and winning another title at Harlem, he said he is excited and looking forward to going to Georgia Southern next year.
“It is always exciting to start something new and especially an opportunity like that and I really thankful for all the coaches and people who helped me get there,” he said.
Lewis praised Holder’s leadership skills and said Georgia Southern is getting a great player and teammate.
“They are going get a super hard worker, a very conscientious kid that is going to give them everything he’s got and a talented young man,” Lewis said. “He is a good pitcher, a good hitter and infielder and is just a good team person. He is the kind of guy that the other guys are going to look up to once he gets a year or two at Southern, and maybe they will look up to him as a freshman. When he was a freshman here, he was running around doing things that everybody else didn’t want to do and as a senior he is still doing it. He sets the pace for everybody to buy in and be a team player and do what there suppose too.”
Holder and the Bulldogs have four more series to win to earn their third consecutive state championship and possibly have a chance even finishing the season undefeated.
“It is going to take a lot of hard work and focus and we are going have to come back and get to work and do whatever we need to do to get the job done,” Holder said.
The second-round playoff matchup versus Whitewater will start with a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 1 at Harlem.
Christopher Rickerson, an Augusta University graduate, has covered area sports for publications including Augusta University‘s Bell Ringer and Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the Augusta Good News’ free weekly newsletter here.
