Alberto Osuna delivers Mexican treats for UNC
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Ángel Cantú, Contributor
- June 14, 2024
Early lessons at family's Mexican restaurant pay off
As a kid growing up in South Carolina, Alberto Osuna would seat patrons at his godfather’s Mexican restaurant. The University of North Carolina designated hitter worked the cash register and served fajita and enchilada plates to customers as a child.
As he prepares for the College World Series, the 6-foot-1 slugger carries the work ethic he garnered working with his parents at a Mexican restaurant.
Alberto’s father Ramon Osuna emigrated from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Greenville, S.C. in 1996 to offer his children a better life. Like countless Mexicans before him, Ramon Osuna left his family behind until he earned enough money to bring them to the United States.
Alberto Osuna appreciates parents’ sacrifice
Alberto wasn’t born when his mother Anna and siblings Ramon Jr. and Anna joined Ramon Sr. two years after he the elder Osuna settled in South Carolina. Juggling baseball and helping at the restaurant taught Alberto Osuna responsibility and hard work. These values have helped make Osuna into an offensive threat for the Tar Heels.
“It just showed all three of us how to work hard and take responsibility,” Alberto Osuna said. “They never pressed it on us. Basically whatever we wanted they gave it to us. But they also knew it was important for us to learn. I feel that’s how it helped me.”
Osuna’s mother is from the Mexican coastal town of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, where baseball has a huge following. Alberto’s sister played softball, and his brother played baseball. Osuna’s mother jokes that Alberto was born at the baseball field.
Alberto Osuna, who was born in Greenville, didn’t garner any Division I attention out of high school. He received four Junior College offers before enrolling at Walters State Community College, the same school where Ramon Jr. played before he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves.
Visit of a lifetime
Alberto was a role player as a freshman at Walters State, playing the field only a few times. A year later, he was named the 2021 NJCAA DI Player of the Year.
“When I came back the next year, it was completely different,” he says. “I worked really hard and got to a completely different level in my game. When the season was happening, I had North Carolina calling.”
Osuna had never even toured the North Carolina campus before Walters State visited Raleigh campus for a fall scrimmage. After seeing the Tar Heels’ facility, he knew that’s where he wanted to play.
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As a sophomore he started 61 games for the Tar Heels and tied for the team lead with 61 RBIs. Osuna also became the first junior college transfer in North Carolina history to hit 20 home runs in his first season.
He worked back from a broken hamate bone in his hand during his junior year. The injury caused him to miss the opening series of the season. However, he still started 48 games and ranked fourth on the team in home runs.
Slugging away
His senior year at UNC has been no different. Osuna is hitting .285 with 14 home runs, 56 RBIs and a .544 slugging percentage.
“He’s worked hard,” Ramon Jr. says of Alberto. “If I worked hard that kid probably worked harder. From the get-go, we’ve always been (very close) uña y mugre since we were small.
“Throughout his career and throughout my career we’ve stayed sending videos to each other. He’s literally my hitting coach. With hitting there is always that person that just knows you. That is kind of Bert’s and (my) relationship.”
Osuna’s parents opened their own Mexican restaurant last year. It’s called Coronitas, which translates to tiny crowns. Now their son is playing at the College World Series.
Osuna says he is treating the College World Series like any other game. It’s surely special, however, to have his parents drive 16 hours to watch him play. From serving enchiladas and burritos as a kid to dishing towering home runs for North Carolina, Alberto Osuna carries the same work ethic he learned from his immigrant parents.
Ángel Cantú
Contributor
Our Esquina contributor Ángel Cantú is a co-host for the Full Seam Ahead podcast. He joined Teach for America after graduating from Texas A&M University. He is currently a fourth grade teacher at KIPP Public Schools in Houston.
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