By IAN WILSON

The Prairie Baseball Academy has announced its 2026 Hall of Fame class, which includes four new inductees.

One builder and three players are being recognized, the Lethbridge-based academy declared at a Dec. 9th announcement at Spitz Stadium.

Randy Ruff is being acknowledged in the builder category, while Dylan Holton, David Cooper and Mike Kicia are all being honoured as former players from the PBA program.

“What a great honour it is to put Mr. Ruff into our Hall of Fame. He was a long-time board member with the Prairie Baseball Academy,” said PBA Head Coach Todd Hubka, adding Ruff has put in many hours at the Little League level and with the American Legion baseball program, as well.

“He’s done a great job throughout his time with the baseball world.”

Athletics hold a special place in Ruff’s heart. He played in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Lethbridge Broncos in the late 1970s, as well as with the Taber Golden Suns of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), before returning to the Broncos as an assistant coach for two seasons in the 1980s.

Ruff’s brother, Lindy, is the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL), while his son, Jared, played for PBA and now serves on the academy’s board of directors.

“I was really humbled when I got the news,” said Ruff.

“Certainly baseball, going back with our family, was one of our first loves. Having a son involved in baseball draws you to that. Our family history is sports-related to begin with. It’s just a natural tie in through our upbringing. I think sports in general is a wonderful institution for all the kids to be involved with.”

PBA PLAYERS GET THE CALL

Three former players are going into the Hall of Fame alongside Ruff. When they left Lethbridge, the trio joined the University of Mount Olive in North Carolina and helped the Trojans win an NCAA Division II college title.

“All three were big impacts on why they won the World Series,” noted Hubka of the 2008 championship winners.

Rob Watt, a PBA Hall of Fame inductee in 2024, was an assistant coach with the Trojans when they claimed the title.

“There’s a toughness with all three guys that needed to be sprinkled onto the rest of the roster and I think it was very apparent where those roots came from. I think every player we’ve ever gotten from PBA symbolizes that type of player, there’s just a grittiness to them,” said Watt, who is now the head coach at the University of Mount Olive.

Cooper recorded the final three outs in that World Series win while playing shortstop and was a 44th-round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008. The Edmonton native played two years of minor-league baseball and another four years of independent ball before returning to Alberta’s capital and taking a management role with EPCOR.

“Coop is my favourite player I’ve ever coached. He set a standard for every player I’m going to coach from here on out,” said Watt.

Cooper said he was honoured to be inducted alongside his former teammates.

“PBA put a lot of emphasis on education, and I think my parents liked that because they were fronting the bill for me all the way, but I was able to gain an education,” observed Cooper.

Holton is responsible for the greatest moment in University of Mount Olive history, according to Watt. His three-run double allowed the Trojans to prevail over Ouachita Baptist University in the championship final.

“He’s royalty around here,” said Watt. “He just brought a different kind of attitude. He could keep the locker room light and, of course, he’s an entertainer.”

Holton, who is now a singer/songwriter, recalled making the move from Nova Scotia to Lethbridge at the age of 18.

“When you go out there, your sole focus is on baseball. You understand that you’re getting your education and your degree, but at that age you’re focused on the game and hopefully what you want to do for the rest of your life is play that sport that you started when you were four or five years old,” said Holton.

“Here we are later and … I honestly do think that everything that I do in life now, from business to work to starting a business to working with people, the work ethic all comes from what we did on the baseball field.”

Watt described Kicia as an elite defensive outfielder with an amazing presence in the locker room.

“Mike Kicia was a leader from the second he got here, probably the best teammate I’ve ever witnessed in our program,” said Watt.

“He’s just a guy that could elevate his teammates in every opportunity he got.”

Kicia went on to work as a strength and conditioning coach with the New York Yankees and is now with Acumen Health in Edmonton.

“I still attribute everything that I’ve accomplished in my career to both PBA and Mount Olive for instilling all that work ethic and doing things the right way,” said Kicia.

“You kind of just know there’s one way to do everything and it’s the right way of doing things. I’ve taken that with me for my entire career.”

The Lethbridge Celebration of Baseball Banquet and PBA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on Jan. 31, 2026 at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge.