Jose Ortega became the Head Softball Coach for the Bulldogs in October 2018. 

2022

The Bulldogs won their second-straight SCIAC regular season title and hosted the SCIAC Postseason Tournamnet where they lost in the finals to Chapman. Overall they posted a 24-14 overall record and were 15-6 in conference play. 

Five Bulldogs were named to the All-SCIAC teams: Collete Allen and Tyesen Gordon to the first team; Kalyn Kershner, Paige Messenlehner, and Danielle Stallings to the second team. Redlands' coaching staff was named the SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year. 

The Bulldogs finished the season with 200 RBIs, tying for the 10th most in single-season program history, they also hit 79 doubles, the second most in program history, and their 35 home runs set a new program record. 

Along with the team records, multiple individuals made it into the top-10 records for a single-season. Alexis Campos and Gordon each had 14 doubles, tying them for ninth most in program history. Allen hit 12 home runs, the second most behind the 13 Amanda Lievanos in 2012. She also had a .824 slugging percentage, tying for third, and her .514 on-base percentage is tied for ninth.

Along with being named to the first team, Allen was also named the SCIAC Player of the Year for the second-straight season. She also became the first NFCA All-American since AJ Carrasco in 2016 and overall just the eighth Bulldog to become an All-American. 

Prior to his arrival, Ortega served as the Associate Head Coach at nearby Riverside City College to complete his 10-year tenure as a Tiger.  In addition to providing on-field instruction as a hitting and infield coach, he managed all aspects of offense, including coaching third base.  He brings experience with fundraising, practice planning, recruiting, and scouting, as well as teaching Kinesiology courses. 

With Ortega's involvement, RCC earned a spot in the playoffs each season and reached the Super Regionals seven out of 10 seasons.  The Tigers also advanced to the State Championships on three occasions and captured two Orange Empire Conference titles.

During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Ortega worked as an assistant coach at UC Riverside, specifically as the hitting coach while helping to develop the infield and catchers.  With his contributions, the Highlanders broke multiple offensive school records, including batting average, hits, runs scored and, most significantly, wins.

Ortega began his coaching career in professional baseball as an infield coach with the Cleveland Indians.  After playing for the organization for two seasons, he moved into this new role, which in many ways redirected his career path.

As a student-athlete, he attended Riverside Community College before transferring to the University of San Diego, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration.  He later completed his master's in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University – Irvine.  He helped lead the RCC baseball program to two State Championships and landed on the OEC First Team.  At USD, Ortega contributed to the 2003 West Coast Conference Championship en route to First-Team All-Conference honors.

Outside of coaching, Ortega enjoys spending time with his wife Whitney and their two daughters.