Paul Ortega enters his fifth season as a member of the Holy Family University softball coaching staff in 2016-17. Ortega currently serves at the recruiting coordinator for the Tigers and shares duties as the program’s hitting coach, is primarily responsible for the team’s game day preparation and assists with all practice planning.
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During Ortega’s tenure, the HFU offense has improved and significantly increased in all offensive categories with each season topping the season before. In the team’s record-breaking 2016 season, the offensive output was at it’s highest under Ortega and Coach Shana Treon’s guidance. The team recorded the most runs scored (tied with 2014 team), hits, doubles, triples and total bases touched. Proof of the Tiger’s aggressive offensive strategy, the 2016 team picked up a 75% stolen base percentage – second highest only to the 2014 team. In 2015, Ortega and Treon’s offense earned the second highest team batting average of the program’s NCAA era and the highest since the 2007 season. With Ortega and Treon’s mentoring, the 2014 squad put together one of the offensive seasons in program history, including setting new team records for batting average, hits, RBIs, slugging percentage, walks, runs scored, and on-base percentage.
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Prior to his time at Holy Family, Ortega was the assistant coach for the Colorado Respect boys baseball team where several of his players went on to make the varsity squads for their high school teams as freshman.
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Ortega began his coaching career in 1982 as the head coach for the Denver West High School Legion A baseball team in Denver, Colorado. From 1990 until 1997, he coached girl’s fastpitch at all levels including 12U, 14U, and 16U.
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Prior to his coaching career, Ortega was a member of the varsity baseball team at Denver West High School and Otero Junior College.
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In March of 2016, Ortega retired as a Captain from the Denver Sheriff Department after 24 years of service. He and his wife, Melissa, currently reside in Aurora, Colorado.
