PHOTO PROVIDED Ray Ferraro poses for a photo. Ferraro, who played for Trail Little League, a team from British Columbia, Canada, made it to the Little League Baseball World Series in 1976. He an Duggan join many other hockey players in the Little League Hall of Excellence.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT- Professional hockey is once again making its mark in the Little League history books with the addition of two stars – Meghan Duggan and Ray Ferraro – into the Little League Hall of Excellence, the highest honor the organization can bestow.

“Enshrinement into the Little League Hall of Excellence is the highest honor we can bestow on alumni of the Little League program. Ray Ferraro and Meghan Duggan both exemplify the values and purpose of the Little League program and are most deserving of this distinguished recognition,” said Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO. “Little League is much more than a baseball and softball program, those sports are simply the vehicles through which young people, during their most impressionable years, can learn valuable life lessons that will serve them well beyond their playing days. Through those memorable childhood days on a Little League field, Ray and Meghan have utilized those lessons and serve as an inspiration to young people everywhere. We are very pleased that we can acknowledge them both with the Hall of Excellence enshrinement during the 2024 Little League Baseball World Series.”

With their enshrinement at the Little League Baseball World Series this August, Duggan and Ferraro will be joining one of the original Little League Girls with Game, Maria Pepe, in the Hall of Excellence Class of 2024.

Before an astonishing hockey career that saw three Olympic medals and seven World Championship gold medals for TeamUSA on the ice, Duggan could be found as a youngster playing Little League in her hometown of Danvers, Massachusetts. After hanging up her cleats, Duggan went on to play hockey for the University of Wisconsin and spent six seasons of professional hockey that included four years with the Boston Blades in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, winning the Clarkson Cup in 2013 and 2015, and two in the National Women’s Hockey League.

After making her international debut with Team USA at the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World

Championship, Duggan made her mark on the national team.

Just three years later, she was selected to the 2010 U.S. Olympic team, finishing with four goals to capture a silver medal, and was later named the captain for the 2014 and 2018 Olympic games. In 2017, she stood up for the women in her sport, boycotting the World Championships to help bring equable support and conditions for females in the game.

On October 13, 2020, Duggan officially retired as a player, but less than a year later joined the New Jersey Devils as themanager of player development, a new role within the franchise. Today, Duggan serves as the Director of Playe Development for the organization, and she continues to be an inspiration to women everywhere as she serves as immediate-past President of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Married to the former Canadian women’s hockey player she once competed against, Gillian Apps, Duggan now has three children and lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Ray Ferraro – Trail Little League (British Columbia, Canada)

Growing up playing on the baseball fields in Trail, British Columbia, Ferraro lived out a dream that every Little Leaguer hopes for – playing in the Little League Baseball World Series. Representing his hometown Trail Little League team, Ferraro and his teammates lived out the ultimate dream, winning the Canada Region championship to earn a trip to Williamsport in 1976.

Following his memorable Little League experience that saw a 1-2 record in the world’s largest youth sports tournament,

Ferraro went on to an incredible career on the ice after being drafted 88th overall (fourth pick in the fifth round) in the 1982

NHL Draft by the Hartford Whalers. During his 18-year NHL career, Mr. Ferraro scored 408 goals and 490 assists for a total of 898 points across 1,258 games and was named an All-Star in 1992. During his 1993 season with the New York Islanders that ended with a team-leading goals (13) and assists (20), Ferraro picked up a pair of overtime goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals and eventually went on to defeat the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins before falling to the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens.

After hanging up his skates on August 2, 2022, he quickly turned his attention to the broadcast booth to share his love for the game with fans from all around the world. Since 2021, Ferraro has served on the ESPN broadcast team as an analyst and has previously served as a commentator for both the 2010 and 2018 Winter Olympics. On November 23, 2015, Ferraro became the first hockey broadcaster to call a game in which their child was playing, watching his son, Landon, take the ice with the Boston Bruins.

Ferraro currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife, and Hockey Hall of Famer, Cammi Granato.

With their enshrinement, Duggan and Ferraro join a number of other incredible hockey players in the Little League Hall of Excellence:

• Chris Drury – Class of 2009 (1989 LLBWS Participant)

• Pierre Turgeon – Class of 2007 (1982 LLBWS Participant)

• Krissy Wendell-Pohl – Class of 2004 (1994 LLBWS Participant)

In addition to those alumni in the Hall of Excellence, a handful of other professional hockey stars also shared in Ferraro’s dream of playing in the Little League Baseball World Series, including:

• Stephane Matteau (1982 LLBWS)

• Yanick Perrault (1983 LLBWS)

• Harry Zolnierczyk (2000 LLBWS)