OUAZ Athletics

Ernesto Ortiz was named the head coach of the OUAZ softball program in July of 2021. Entering his fourth season at the helm, Ortiz is coming off another successful campaign with the Spirit Softbal Program. A 29-23 overall record was good enough to punch a ticket to the GSAC Tournament for the second time in the last three years. 

Before taking over the program, Ortiz worked with the Grand Canyon University Softball program for two seasons under the direction of Ann Pierson. He assisted in the overall operation of the Performance Athletics Department at GCU and played a role in the speed, strength, and agility programs installed with the GCU softball program. In addition, Ortiz has worked as a coach with the GCU Camps and Clinics program since 2015.
  
Ortiz began his coaching career in club softball, where he prepared and implemented practice, speed, and conditioning training plans for the team and handled individual and skill development.
 
In his time with the OUAZ baseball program, Ortiz was also the recruiting coordinator and handled player development and performance. He played a role in the offensive and defensive strategies and helped develop two NCCAA All-Americans. With Ortiz on staff, the Spirit advanced to the NCCAA World Series.
 
Before coming to OUAZ in 2017, Ortiz was the head baseball coach at Valley Vista High School, where he led the program to consecutive 20-win seasons and two trips to the Arizona 6A State Playoffs. He coached 14 players that went on to play college baseball.
 
The owner and founder of Arizona Travel Ball, Ortiz oversees the organization's operations and is responsible for the athletes' development, training, and teaching.
 
After playing spending two seasons at Gonzaga University, where he started 101 games at shortstop and collected 87 hits, Ortiz finished his collegiate career at Grand Canyon University. His time at GCU was highlighted by being named PacWest All-Conference in 2011 after batting .340 with 33 RBIs.
 
Ortiz graduated from GCU with a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in Health Education. He then earned a Master of Science in Leadership at GCU. Ortiz and his wife, Vanessa, reside in Glendale.