Gabriel Ortega, a senior at Douglas High School, announced last week that he will be attending Eastern Arizona College next year on an athletic scholarship.

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Ortega, 18, the son of Gabriel and Lisa Ortega of Douglas, will be playing golf for the Gila Monsters who compete in a very tough Arizona Community College Athletic Conference. Eastern plays its home matches at the Mount Graham Country Club.

He becomes the first member of his family to go to college on an athletic scholarship.

Ortega said he chose Eastern Arizona because he feels comfortable with both the school and the coach and feels he can fit in with the recruiting class coming in.

Sandy Davis is in his second year as coach of the Gila Monsters. He said his team made it to nationals last year.

“It looks like we’re on target to go to nationals this year,” he added. “We’re currently ranked 19th in the nation.”

Where will Ortega fit in this year at Eastern depends on him and how fast he picks up golf at the collegiate level.

The coach feels that when Ortega reports to Eastern in August he will be surrounded by 10-11 other talented golfers which should help him in the long run.

“If he works real hard the sky is the limit for him,” the coach said.

The coach said he plans on getting Gabriel to add some weight to his game in addition to shoring up his short game just a little bit.

“He’s a really good ball striker and a hard worker so we’re real excited,” the coach said.

Davis said golf in the ACCAC is very competitive and on par with that at the Division III or NAIA level.

“There are 10 teams currently but we may have nine next year,” the coach said. “Our conference is split between division one and two. We’re in division one with Scottsdale, Pima, Estrella Mountain and us.”

According to the coach Eastern will play two to three major fall events then resume play in February where they will play six regular season matches followed by four day regional tournament then the national tournament which takes place in May.

Ortega has been playing golf at DHS all four years he was in high school.

His high school coach Bosco Selchow Ortega has been a state qualifier all four years.

“This is quite an honor for him,” Selchow said. “He’s worked real hard to get himself ready to play at the next level. �- I’m really proud of him.”

Ortega becomes the sixth golfer since Selchow began coaching to go on and play at the next level. The last was Steve Valenzuela who went to Pima three years ago.

He says it was Coach Selchow who pushed him to play in the offseason tournaments.

Ortega has currently been playing with a team from Rio Rico in a junior league in Tucson. That team, he said, is currently in first place.

Gabriel’s parents say they are proud of what their son has accomplished.

“He really worked hard for this,” his dad said. “His dedication paid off.”

“It’s bittersweet,” his mom added. “I’m both excited for him but also sad.”

“We’re really excited to have Gabriel join us,” Coach Davis said last week. “I think he has a world of potential. �- I’m very much looking forward to having Gabriel on my team.”