Osuna named 2021 NJCAA DI Baseball Player of the Year
MORRISTOWN, TN -- The Walters State baseball program has seen a lot of success over the years.
The Senators have made 10 World Series appearances, have a World Series title, 13 Region VII Championships and 16 TCCAA Regular Season Championships.
They've had countless All-Americans and even the NJCAA National Pitcher of the Year in 2016. However, Walters State has been missing one last piece of the puzzle: the NJCAA Baseball Player of the Year award.
On Wednesday, they received that final piece.
Following a record-breaking freshman season, Walters State first baseman Alberto Osuna was named the 2021 NJCAA DI Baseball Player of The Year, the first in school history to receive the honor.
"Winning Player of the Year is amazing and a great honor, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates and coaches," Osuna said. "They pushed me every single day to be better and without them, I wouldn't receive this honor."
A native of Mauldin, SC, Osuna had an unbelievable season with the Senators. Osuna hit .459 with 25 home runs and led the nation with 107 RBIs. The next closest RBI total was just 81 runs batted in.
Osuna also broke the school record for most hits, with 106, and RBIs in a single season. Those records were previously held by Osuna's brother, Ramon, who was also a standout at Walters State.
Alberto helped lead Walters State to a 61-7 record, their best in program history, and to a TCCAA championship and Appalachian District title. He was named the conference Player of the Year and was the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings National Position Player of the Year.
"The season that Alberto put together for us here this year was truly amazing," head coach Dave Shelton said. "It may have been the best offensive single season that anyone has had at Walters State, and there have been some good ones over the years."
As good of a player as Osuna was this past season, Shelton said that's not what stands out the most about him.
"As impressive as Alberto is on the field, he is equally impressive off the field," Shelton said. "[Osuna] is just a wonderful young man who is an absolute joy to be around on a daily basis. He is the epitome of what a student-athlete should be, carrying a 3.55 GPA while putting in the amount of work that it takes to be that successful in his sport, which will allow him to attend the University of North Carolina next year. We could not be more proud of Alberto and him being named NJCAA Player of the Year."
Osuna got things started off quick in 2021 as he homered in four of the first five games of the season. One of those home runs came against Roane State. With the Senators trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Osuna came up with two outs and the bases loaded. In just the fourth game of the season, Osuna delivered with a game-winning grand slam.
Osuna kept the onslaught going early in the year and totaled a 27-game hit streak during Walters State's 31-game win streak, the longest streak in school history.
Heading into the postseason, Osuna hit a slump that saw him go homerless through 12 games. He would not be deterred though and broke the slump in a big way with a home run in the TCCAA Championship game against Dyersburg State.
Following a two-game sweep of Andrew College to punch their ticket to the JUCO World Series, Osuna entered Grand Junction, CO looking to make the same impact his brother made when he was the World Series MVP in 2015.
Osuna put the JUCO world on notice the second he arrived when he belted a home run during his first at-bat. Osuna would go on to hit .600 during the World Series with six hits and five RBIs.
"It was amazing being part of such a historic team and glad we could add on to the record books at Walters State as a whole," Osuna said. "It was by far the most I've enjoyed playing baseball and so happy and grateful I will be able to call all of my teammates brothers for life."
Following the record-breaking season, Osuna will now head to North Carolina, where he committed to play early in the year. However, his legacy will live on at Walters State.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics