Coaching Staff

Pablo Ortiz
Assistant Coach

Pablo Ortiz joined the staff at Northern Colorado in the summer of 2022.

He came to UNC after spending spending two seasons as a graduate assistant at Louisiana Tech.

At Tech he helped the Bulldogs earn NCAA Tournament appearances in both 2021 and 2022. They won the Conference USA Tournament championship in 2022 with a 43-21 record. In 2021 Tech hosted a regional after going 42-20 on the year and winning the CUSA western division title.

Working with the pitching staff, Ortiz helped develop three MLB draft picks just from the Bulldogs’ arms and overall, five players from his time at Louisiana Tech were drafted. Ortiz’s main responsibilities at Tech were assisting with the strength and conditioning and developing training routines for the pitchers to maintain their strength, mobility and overall health.

Over the summer Ortiz has been an assistant coach in the Cape Cod League working as a defensive coordinator and with the pitchers.

Ortiz played college ball at UT Rio Grande Valley and Arkansas Little Rock mainly as a reliever

Shane Opitz
Assistant Coach

Shane Opitz returned to Northern Colorado in the summer of 2022 as an assistant coach.The Colorado native returned to the Bears where he began his coaching career in 2019.

Opitz returns to Greeley after his most recent stop as the infield coach at Stetson University. Before Stetson, he spent a year with the University of Arkansas. He was a part of the SEC championship team with the Razorbacks that advanced to the Super Regionals.

Prior to his coaching career, Opitz spent eight years in the minor leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays and one year with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was primarily a shortstop throughout his career but also logged innings at every single position on the diamond up to the AAA level.

Opitz was a multi-sport star at Heritage High School. In 2010, he set the single-season touchdown record and was an All-Colorado wide receiver, leading Heritage High School to their first-ever state championship. That same year, he was Colorado’s baseball Player of the Year and a Louisville Slugger All-American before being drafted by Toronto in the 11th round.

He currently resides in Littleton, Colorado with his wife Catherine, son Carter, and daughter Alaina.