Orono native Brian Butterfield, who had an impressive 37-year career as a professional baseball coach, and Ellsworth’s Mike McDevitt, who is among the nation’s 100 winningest women’s basketball coaches, headline the Maine Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
The induction ceremony will take place at the University of Southern Maine’s Hannaford Hall in Portland at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27.
Butterfield and McDevitt will be joined in the Class of 2026 by Al Bean, Mike Brown, Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, David Hughes, Carroll LaHaye, Liz Leddy, Bob Morse, Rachel Schneider Smith and Christina Strong.
Butterfield, a three-sport standout at Orono High, played baseball at the University of Maine and Florida Southern and had a 397-game professional minor league playing career before landing the job of roving infield instructor for the New York Yankees organization in 1984.
He was the second baseman for Florida Southern’s 1978 NCAA Division II national championship team.
The Maine Baseball Hall of Famer spent 37 years coaching in the organizations of the Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks,Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels.
He managed two games for the Toronto Blue Jays when manager Cito Gaston was away attending his sister’s funeral.
He compiled a 375-381 record as a minor league manager.
Butterfield, who earned the reputation of being one of the premier infield instructors in the game, was part of the Boston Red Sox’s 2013 World Series championship team.
McDevitt, an outstanding athlete at Ellsworth High who scored 1,381 points and grabbed 674 rebounds at St. Joseph’s College, concluded a terrific head coaching career at St. Joseph’s and the University of Southern Maine with a record of 667-231.
He guided St. Joseph’s to 14 national tournament (NCAA, NAIA) appearances and has earned 15 conference regional or coach of the year honors.
His 667 wins place him 72nd among all women’s college basketball coaches at the NCAA, AIAW and NAIA levels.
He never had a losing season.
Bean had a University of Southern Maine Hall of Fame career as a star pitcher and went on to become an assistant coach, sports information specialist and athletic director at the school. He spent 31 years as the AD and oversaw an expansion to 23 varsity sports as well as several major facility enhancements. He is currently the commissioner of the Little East Conference.
Brown, a former state champion wrestler at Buxton’s Bonny Eagle High School, was a four-time Absolute Fighting champion and a veteran UFC fighter. When his fighting career ended, he became a coach and won two MMA Coach of the Year Awards. His American Top Team fighters have captured more than 25 UFC title belts.
Hoffman-Johnson is the founder and chief community officer of the Portland Hearts of Pine, a professional soccer team in the United Soccer League. He was a standout soccer player at Falmouth High and was a 2014 All-Ivy first team selection at Dartmouth College. He was also an All-East pick. He played in the USL before founding the Hearts of Pine.
Hughes, a two-time Olympic sailor, is honored following the postponement of his 2021 induction due to COVID-19. He is a seven-time world champion who captained sailing teams at Yarmouth High and the University of Southern Maine. He is also a six-time World Cup champion and two-time European champion. He has won over 20 national and North American titles.
Hughes served on the board of the US Olympians and Paralympians Association and is currently the vice president of World Sailing. He is involved in coordinating sailing events for the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
LaHaye is the winningest basketball coach for men or women in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference where she amassed a record of 647-346 in 38 years at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia. She led her teams to 12 NCAA Division III tournament appearances and a national championship game appearance in 2005. The Warren native excelled in field hockey, basketball and softball at Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro and played basketball and volleyball at the University of Maine-Machias.
Portland native Leddy overcame homelessness, addiction and an abusive relationship through boxing, becoming a three-time National Golden Gloves boxing champion, five-time New England champion and a member of the elite USA Women’s boxing team. A Pan American Games silver medalist, Leddy now dedicates her time to mentoring youth facing difficult circumstances like she encountered.
She fought Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Taylor, who went on to become the undisputed world lightweight and super lightweight champion as a pro.
Morse had an unparalleled coaching career at Yarmouth High School. He coached skiing, cross country and track and he guided his teams to 43 Nordic and 25 Alpine state championships and swept both boys and girls’ titles on several occasions.
His coaching career spanned 48 years.
Smith was born and raised in Sanford and was a multi-time state and New England champion in track and field at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, New Hampshire. She went on to Georgetown University where she was a five-time All-American distance runner and finished third in the distance medley relay at the 2010 NCAA championships. She placed in the 1,500-meter outdoor championships in 2010, ’11 and ’12.
She competed in the 5,000-meter run at the 2019 Track and Field World Championships and represented the United States in that event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She won two gold medals in the North American, Central American and Caribbean championships, a silver medal at the Athletics World Cup and captured three national titles.
Strong, following an impressive three-sport career (soccer, basketball, track) at Georges Valley High School in Thomaston, where she was named Miss Maine Basketball in1990, moved on to the University of Maine where she was a two-year captain.
Strong, a two-time Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball Team selection, finished her career at UMaine with 374 assists which is eighth most in the school’s basketball history.
She contributed to a conference championship team and earned the prestigious Dean Smith Award which goes to the top male and female student-athletes based on academic and athletic excellence.
