2024 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | WES HOLLY
Since the fall of 1988, Milligan University has had only one head coach for women’s softball; and that coach is Wes Holly. In the fall of 2024, he began his 37th year leading the women’s softball program. He is one of the winningest coaches in NAIA history, and currently ranks third nationally among active NAIA coaches with 992 victories. That amazing 1000th win is just around the corner!
Coach Holly recorded his prestigious 900th win on March 8, 2020. His 800th career win came on March 21, 2015, and his 700th career coaching win came in 2011. He's a nine-time Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference and Appalachian Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and two-time NAIA District Coach of the Year. In addition, Coach Holly has been named National Fastpitch Coaches Association Region 3 Coach of the Year, and in 2021 he received the Region I “Coaching Staff” of the Year alongside his son, Wes Holly Jr. In June 2014, Coach Holly and his daughter, Kim, were inducted into the Carter County Sports Hall of Fame.
Under Coach Holly, Milligan's softball program has been considered among the elite in the conference, finishing in the top three in 23 of the past 34 years. Coach Holly's teams have won nine conference titles and advanced to 16 District/Regional Tournaments. Most recently, he led the Buffs to three national tournament appearances during the past six seasons with postseason play in 2016, 2017, and 2021.
In 2021, Milligan reached the NAIA World Series for the first time in program history after sweeping the Lawrenceville, GA bracket in the NAIA Opening Round. The Buffs finished the 2021 season as the 18th ranked team in the nation in the final NAIA Top 25 poll. Coach Holly played in the Amateur Softball Association of America’s Major Open Men's fast pitch for 23 years. He played on winning teams in Tennessee, Virginia, participating in the South Atlantic Regionals and the ASA Men's Major Open Nationals in Clearwater, Florida. Holly is a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
Coach Holly started his collegiate coaching career at Tusculum College from 1983-87 as an assistant coach while his daughter Kim was a standout pitcher for the Pioneers. With Holly on the staff, Tusculum advanced to the NAIA National Tournament two times, 1984 & 1985.
Coach Holly is widely known as the region’s top pitching instructor. Over the years he has conducted multiple fast pitch clinics and personal instructional sessions covering all the fundamentals of fast pitch, and particularly the skills of pitching. Please join me in congratulating Coach Wes Holly for his induction into the Milligan Athletics Hall of Fame.