At just one year old, Holden Powell could hardly walk. He could say maybe a handful of words.
But before Powell learned to walk or talk, he mastered something far more important than both.
Ichiro’s walkup routine.
Holden’s father, former MLB catcher and current NGU head baseball coach Landon Powell, still keeps the video as proof.
“There’s a video of him that the wife of one of my old Oakland teammates took,” said Landon, who caught for the Athletics from 2009-11. “[Holden] can barely walk, but he takes his drumstick, walks up, lifts it behind his head, and points it straight out, just like Ichiro did."
“It just shows he was watching the game and paying attention to it from a really, really young age.”
In reality, Holden, now a sophomore at Blue Ridge High School, didn’t have much of a choice.
Baseball — and sports in general, for that matter — have always been ingrained in his life.
“I was around the game a lot as a young child,” said Holden. “And as I grew up, my dad wanted me to play, for sure. But it wasn’t like he pushed me to play. He always made it clear that if I didn’t want to play baseball, I didn’t have to. The most important thing to him was making sure that whatever I did, I felt free and was having fun with it.”
On top of being one of the top managers in Division II baseball with NGU, Landon was a standout catcher at South Carolina, a former MLB player, and is a member of the SC Athletic Hall of Fame.
Landon’s not the only Powell of athletic royalty, either. The Powell family tree sprouts branches rich with athletic achievement.
His wife, Allyson, is the daughter of USC football legend Bo Davies and the granddaughter of NBA Hall of Famer Bob Davies. Bo is the all-time interceptions leader at USC. Bob is one of the pioneers of the assist and the behind-the-back dribble.
That’s quite the family legacy.
Yet there’s not a single ounce of expectation on Holden’s shoulders. He knows he’s free to carve his own path — whatever that may look like.
“A lot of people think Holden has this immense pressure to live up to these family expectations,” said Landon. “But he doesn’t at all. And we’ve always made sure not to make him feel that way.
“He can ditch sports and go sell insurance, and we’ll be so proud of him for that. I don’t know if he has aspirations of playing at the next level. But right now, we love seeing him just having fun and making friends.”
That couldn’t be more accurate.
Holden is currently a centerfielder for the Blue Ridge Tigers. He’s fresh off the best game of his young career, batting 3-4 with three runs and tossing three scoreless innings on the mound, earning a win against region rival Pickens.
Perhaps even more notable? Just how much Holden’s teammates seem to love him. Inside the dugout, Holden cracks up with the guys and keeps the mood light.
Holden Powell is interviewed after his 3-4 day at the plate and win earned on the mound on March 13 vs. Pickens.
For someone who arrived at Blue Ridge just months ago — coming from Greenville High School — one would think he’d been a Tiger for years.
“From the moment I got here, everyone was welcoming to me,” said Holden. “They all wanted to know who I was, where I was from, what I was about. I felt like this team and this community really brought me in and let me know I belonged here.”
“Holden is a first-class guy. We knew coming in, we were getting a great kid and a competitor,” said Blue Ridge head baseball coach Travis Henson. “He’s so versatile. I don’t think anything gets too big for him. He’s always relaxed, always confident. And I think that’s something the guys picked up on from the start, which has been huge.”
After Holden’s career-best performance on Friday, his dad was there after the game, waiting to hug him and congratulate him.
The same little kid Landon used to carry on his shoulders before his MLB games? He’s all grown up now, beginning to forge a path of his own.
Whatever that road looks like, and however far it takes Holden, he knows he’ll have his biggest fan in his corner no matter what.
“My dad’s really, really great,” said Holden. “He’s never put pressure on me, and he always tells me that whenever I want to work with him, I can.
“He truly wants nothing more than for me to have fun, and to become the best player I can be.”
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