James Bolden: Hancock Central High School
Bolden was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2023.
James Bolden built a baseball empire at Hancock Central High School that most programs in middle Georgia could only envy.
After serving as head baseball coach for 36 years and winning more than 500 career games, Bolden was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023.
“It’s a great thing … a really good thing,” Bolden said. “I’m honored.”
Many of Bolden’s former players still stay in contact, and he affectionately refers to them as “my boys.” He said many still stop by to visit and some even come over for dinner.
In 36 years at Hancock Central, Bolden finished with a 504-305 career record. He guided the program to a state runner-up finish in Class 2A in 1984, then won the state championship in 1985 in the same classification. Bolden’s teams captured four region titles, seven subregion titles and made the state playoffs four times. He was named Coach of the Year nine times. On March 7, 2003, then Governor Sonny Perdue named the Hancock County Recreation Field "Bolden Field" after a makeover from former University of Georgia coach Robert Sapp and his church.
Bolden is still revered in the small county where he put the school’s baseball program on the map. And his former players haven’t forgot the impact he had on their lives.
“I had one of my boys call me from Dubai,” he said. “He called to congratulate me and we talked about it."
A strict disciplinarian, he was a no-nonsense coach who wanted to be successful on the field but more importantly, off the field. After playing collegiately at Vorhees College, he played and coached semi-pro baseball. But his greatest achievements came in Hancock County.
Bolden’s success is highlighted on a website, coachjamesbolden.com, to honor him for his many years of service to Hancock County baseball. The longtime coach spent many days mentoring his players with countless practices. His teams often traveled across the Southeast to play some of the top high school teams. Bolden said he coached football for a few seasons, but it wasn’t like coaching baseball, his first love. He said he spent so much time working his players that one of his principals once told him “that we were going to have to make a baseball diamond down in the woods.”
“We worked hard at it,” Bolden said.
One of his biggest rivals was Harlem High School who was coached by Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame coach Jimmie Lewis. In a handful of seasons in the 1980s, Lewis’ Bulldogs kept Hancock Central out of the state playoffs because only one team made the postseason. Lewis said they engaged in some epic battles.
“They were tough,” said Lewis, who ranks third all-time in wins among state coaches. “Every time we played his teams, we knew we were in for a battle. His induction into the Hall of Fame is long overdue. He’s a good man and an even better friend.”
Bolden retired from coaching in 2007.