Sul Ross State University Women's Softball

Canabas (CAN-a-ba) dream was to coach here. Canaba got a chance to realize his dream when he officially took over as head coach of the Sul Ross State softball team June 1, 2015. Canaba, who has coached at Alpine High School since 2004, succeeded Sandra Chambers, who was promoted to the position of Assistant Director of Athletics. A native of Sierra Blanca, Canaba played football and basketball and participated in track and field and golf at Sierra Blanca High School, earning All-State honors as a quarterback for the football team and participating in a post-season all-star game. Moving on to Sul Ross State, Canaba played basketball for the Lobos for two years and graduated from SRSU, then remained on staff as a graduate assistant for the basketball team under Dr. Roger Grant while assisting with the volleyball and softball teams coached by Rick Garcia. After graduation, Canaba spent two years as the Director of Athletics at Marathon High School, coaching volleyball, girls basketball and track and field. Hired at Alpine HS in 2004, Canaba has coached volleyball and softball during his tenure with the Bucks. His teams have been very successful, advancing at least as far as the state regional quarterfinals in each of the last seven years, and going all the way to the state championship game in Austin in 2012, where they lost to Crawford. In 12 seasons at Alpine HS, Canabas softball teams went 201-42. Softball is my favorite sport, I played slow pitch for a lot of years, it was a lot of fun and I fell in love with it, said Canaba. Weve had great kids at Alpine who worked hard and believed in what we did. It was always my dream to coach in college. This is the best of both worlds, I dont have to move, I have family here and we wanted to stay here. Dr. Grant gave me a chance to come here and get my education, and I always wanted to come back and coach here. The SRSU softball team has made strides in the past few seasons, and Canaba would like to see the team continue to improve. Coach Chambers has done a good job with the program, and part of the challenge is to help it continue to grow and get over the hump, said Canaba. The foundation is there, and I am hoping to build on it. Troy is a great fit to run our softball program, said Sul Ross State Director of Athletics Bobby Mesker. He is well respected around West Texas in the softball world due to his success at Alpine High School, which will help in the recruiting process.  His leadership abilities have been proven, and we are ready for him to lead our program.   Canabas wife, Gloria, teaches second grade at Alpine Elementary School. His daughter, Annika, a freshman at Alpine HS, plays volleyball and softball. He also has two sons, Jayden, who is in the fifth grade, and Jace, who is in the third grade.    

Lacey Middlebrooks is in her second season as head coach of the Sul Ross State softball team. In 2026, the Lobos had some strong accomplishments.  Jaclyn Pate was named Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Week for Week 9, the first individual LSC award winner in program history.  SRSU also set five school records and Addison Castilleja threw just the second no-hitter in program history. Middlebrooks was the head coach of softball at Kilgore High School the past two seasons.  She was the girls’ athletic coordinator, assisted with middle school athletics and taught PE and Intervention classes.  Middlebrooks also coached and taught at the Liberty Eylau, Pittsburg and Texarkana Independent School Districts (2019-23). Middlebrooks got her coaching start at Buffalo (2014).  She assisted in all aspects of the Bulls program.  Middlebrooks helped in the development of three All-Mid-American Conference first team selections and an all-region selection.  One of her pitchers, Tori Speckman, set three-single-season records that still stand – innings pitched (244.7), strikeouts (228) and wins (22). Middlebrooks helped the Bulls having the best season in school history.  Buffalo won 30 games, took the first MAC East Division title and saw its E.R.A. improved by 1.20 points. Middlebrooks was a graduate assistant and pitching coach at Northeastern State (2015-16).  In her second season, the River Hawks went from 21-30 to 32-23 and qualified for the MIAA Conference Tournament.  Middlebrooks helped in the development of Kayce Wooldridge who in 2016 was All-MIAA first team, All-Central Region second team, D2CCA All-Central Region second team and All-OSN NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year.  Wooldridge would set the school record for season (21 – 2016) and career (60) wins. Middlebrooks was an assistant coach at Columbus State (2017-18).  She helped lead the Cougars to the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Championship game in 2018.  Middlebrooks aided in the development of three All-NFCA All-Region selections, Darby Demarest lowering her E.R.A. from 2.60 to 1.81 (2018) and Elizabeth Perdue being named PBC and Southeast Region Player of the Year. Middlebrooks began her collegiate career at Minnesota (2010).  She was 15-14 with 165 strikeouts and a 2.52 E.R.A. over 172 innings. Middlebrooks spent the next three season at Tulsa (2011-13).  She was a three-time All-Conference USA first team selection (utility – 2011, pitcher – 2012 and utility – 2013), 2012 Co CUSA Pitcher of the Year, 2012 CUSA Tournament MVP, All Midwest Region first team (2012) and All-Midwest Region second team (2013). Middlebrooks won 20 games in 2012, just the fourth player to do, is ranked among the top 10 career in E.R.A., on-base percentage, pitching opposing batting average, strikeouts and wins and was selected to the Tulsa All-Time team. Middlebrooks has a B.A. in Communications from Tulsa and an M.S. in Health & Kinesiology from Northeastern State.