Alberto Osuna picks the same spot in the dugout every game.
The Tennessee baseball senior posts up next to the coaches, placing himself within ear shot of all the minute details going on within the game. He has always been this way, gravitating close to where the decisions are made and the knowledge is shared.
Osuna listens, observes and absorbs.
“You just see so many things throughout a college career, especially one as long as mine,” Osuna said. “You learn so many things.”
Osuna’s final season of college baseball meant learning the game from a different vantage point. He was denied eligibility in his pursuit of a fifth year, his hopes of playing for the Vols thwarted and leaving him to take on a different role while pursuing the game he loves.
“Some would say it didn’t go the way I wanted, but I think it is just God’s plan for me to be here and to have a spot on this team,” Osuna said.
Why Alberto Osuna transferred to Tennessee baseball
Osuna was not going to come to Tennessee.
The first baseman ruled it out as his season at Division II Tampa approached until Walters State Community College coach David Shelton called. Shelton asked his former player if he was on his way to Knoxville yet to play for the Vols and coach Tony Vitello. Osuna was not.
“He said, ‘You should probably call Coach V again and see what he has to say because I think it would be a really good decision to make,’ ” Osuna said.
Osuna changed course. He left Tampa the next day, informing Vitello he was coming and driving late into the night to head to Knoxville.
Osuna had played two seasons at Walters State in Morristown before three years at North Carolina, where he hit 45 home runs and 140 RBIs as a designated hitter. His Division I eligibility expired after the 2024 season at UNC and he transferred to Tampa, where he could play. He explored returning to Division I when Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia received a waiver for an extra year of eligibility due to his time in junior college.
He wrestled with the decision for months and pursued input from the NCAA. Ultimately, he took a leap of faith — and accepted it as that. He knew other players were pursuing the same mission he had in gaining another year. He was confident he would be devastated if he did not take a chance and those players were eligible so he chose to come to Tennessee.
“I really didn’t want to live my life with regret,” Osuna said.
How Alberto Osuna made most of year at Tennessee
Osuna was headed to the weight room on March 3 when he got the news.
He was denied eligibility for the second time in the legal process, essentially ending his odds of playing for the Vols. He walked into strength and conditioning coach Quentin Eberhardt’s office and broke down.
Eberhardt took him to get lunch and had a suggestion when Osuna asked what he should do next.
“Stick around and be you,” Eberhardt told him.
That was easy for Osuna amid the hard truth of accepting his college career was over.
He arrived at Tennessee two weeks before the season started and slipped easily into the locker room. He’s introverted but kind with his words. He leans on his faith. He learned how to treat people like family by watching his parents work at Coronas restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina, then their own restaurant Coronitas.
He takes pride in making other people feel good and loved.
Osuna continues to take part in everything players do at the ballpark from working out to daily drills at first base to batting practice. He hopes a pro career is still out there for him. But he also does everything knowing he can help his teammates improve and win.
“I am just focusing on what this team needs right now,” Osuna said. “They like to joke that I am a player-coach.”
He has been that this season, but the latter title is likely in his future. He told Eberhardt at that lunch that he wants to coach one day and he spent the past few months at Tennessee setting himself up for that life.
Why Alberto Osuna is grateful for his experience with Tennessee
Osuna should have known the answer.
He called Vitello when he was not granted eligibility and asked if he could stick around.
“He said, ‘I think the team would boycott me if I didn’t let you be with the team,’ ” Osuna said.
Osuna has always known he will stay in baseball. He says he was not blessed with great abilities but learned to work hard and studied the game.
He was a bat boy when he was a kid while his older brother played at Mauldin High School under coach Jim Maciejewski, who was his coach as well and set an example for him. He learned hard work under Shelton. He watched how North Carolina coach Scott Forbes steered a team through a rough season into success.
Vitello stuck by his side and loved him loyally no matter if he could play or not.
All of them touched his life and he wants to do the same as a coach with loving and determined coaching. He might be a hitting coach or maybe a strength coach. He knows it will be at the college level ideally.
“I like college,” Osuna said. “You can tell by how many years I have been in it.”
Osuna’s time on the Tennessee roster was short, but he has found it special. He pointed to the his teammates and the Tennessee fan base as a key reason. He always wanted to come back to East Tennessee and is thankful he did.
He will take that same familiar post in the dugout as the No. 14 overall seed Vols open the Knoxville Regional against Miami (Ohio) on May 30 (6 p.m. ET, ESPNU) and do his best to help his teammates.
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He didn’t get to play. He is sure it worked out anyway.
“I know something good is coming out of it,” Osuna said.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Alberto Osuna: Tennessee baseball transfer wants to be coach