PBA unveils seventh Hall of Fame class

By Lethbridge Herald on December 9, 2025.

Herald photo by Nathan reiter Randy Ruff was on hand for the PBA Hall of Fame class announcement on Tuesday.

By Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald- Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) will welcome four new members to its Hall of Fame in the new year.

During a press conference at Spitz Stadium on Tuesday, PBA announced that Randy Ruff (builder), Dylan Holton (player), David Cooper (player) and Mike Kicia (player) will be officially inducted at the Lethbridge Celebration of Baseball banquet on Jan. 31 at the Sandman Signature Hotel. 

PBA head coach Todd Hubka says it’s important for the program to recognize those who have gone before.

“I think that PBA was built on the work ethic and blue collar mentality. That’s something that we’re very proud of here. A lot of kids when they leave the program, they or the parents, mentioned, their son came here as a boy and they left as a man. That’s something we’re very proud of at PBA. We try to teach these kids their independence, but also to keep developing as human beings. That’s the neat thing about our program now. It’s been around for 30 years and seeing these players that went through our program that are fathers and husbands now that are very successful throughout the country.”

Randy Ruff was the lone inductee into the builder category this year. Ruff spent many years as a board member during the early days of the program, when the future was uncertain. 

Hubka says people like Ruff are the major reason that PBA is around today.

“He was very instrumental on the growth of the PBA. He was there for the grind years and without people like him that volunteered and put the program before themselves is why we get to induct guys like that, like Randy. He’s going under the building category and for the most part, I think we got all the builders into the Hall of Fame now that were in the early years of the program.”

Holton, Cooper and Kicia all experienced team success after their time at PBA. In 2008, the trio helped the University of Mount Olive Trojans capture their only national championship to date.

Cooper went on to be selected by the Arizona Diamonbacks in the 44th round of the 2008 MLB Draft and spent a pair of seasons in affiliated professional baseball.

“As for the boys, they went to Mount Olive and won a Division II World Series with the assistant coach Rob Watt, we inducted him a few years ago into our Hall of Fame for what he’s done with baseball.” Hubka explained. “That’s what this is about. It’s to recognize the people that have moved on with their lives after PBA, whether they’re playing days or recognizing from what they’re doing in their communities now. I’m just really excited for them and they deserve to go into the Hall of Fame.”

With the banquet taking place at the end of January right before PBA traditionally starts their season with a reading break road trip, Hubka says he is looking forward to having those alumni interact with the current generation of PBA players. 

“It’s very exciting. I always love when alumni show up to the building. We sometimes give them the opportunity to talk to the players. These three guys that are going in this year, it’s a credit to them. Their work ethic and ability to play the game at a very high level. They won a (college) world series, so I’m just looking forward to seeing them.”