COMETS CRUISE IN BERTHIAUME’S 500TH
By Ben Kaufmann
County Courier
ST. ALBANS – The day was a long, long time in the making. An unprecedented 500th career win for BFA-St. Albans softball coach Richard “Bert” Berthiaume arrived a year later than expected but nonetheless with appropriate fanfare. Thursday’s 16-0 win over visiting Burlington was more or less a formality en route to special postgame celebration.
Had it not been for a cancelled 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic, Berthiaume would have celebrated this accolade more than a year ago. Various weather and contact-tracing delays pushed the big day back even further, but Berthiaume was going to reach the 500-win milestone one way or another. After 2020 came and went, after his daughter’s 2021 visit for the occasion came and went, Berthiaume humbly accepted the praise on Friday at Collins Perley among plenty of former players and the current squad.
“We just wanted to make it special for him,” said Comet senior Maren McGinn. “It was really cool. I didn’t really know that there was anyone here watching like former players. That’s even cooler for them to come back and see their coach get this great accomplishment.”
Friday didn’t offer the tension Berthiaume’s most notable moments are known for. In 2019 his team rallied from four down in the last inning to win the semifinal before winning his eighth title on a game-ending play at the plate. Just a few weeks ago in the second game of this season his girls trailed 12-7 entering the seventh and plated six runs to steal a walkoff win – his 498th. On Friday, BFA scored four runs in the first, one more in the second, seven in the third and four more in the fourth to seal a five-inning victory.
“It wasn’t stressful,” Berthiaume said with relief after the postgame photo sessions had concluded. “We were able to relax and enjoy the moment and not have to be under a great deal of stress.”
There was McGinn, Caitlyn Dasaro – who made the throw from centerfield to close the 2019 final and struck out 11 while yielding one hit Friday- and Taylor Baldwin on the field after the game reading congratulatory speeches to their legendary leader. There were shirts and a banner printed just for the occasion. There were Berthiaume’s grandchildren. There were dozens of fans and former players and happy community members. There was simply a lot of admiration for a beloved coach.
“He just knows the game so well,” McGinn said. “ And he makes every practice and every game interesting and fun. We always do something new, he always makes us laugh and he’s always making us better every day. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Berthiaume used his time in the spotlight, unsurprisingly, to heap praise on others. He credited current long-time assistants Kevin McGinn and Ann Sargent with a significant role in the 500 wins as well as former assistant Jeff Moulton. After the proceedings, he said it was essential to include an early hero in the BFA softball program.
“Part of it was Everett Johnson,” Berthiaume said of Johnson, who passed in 2003. “He was a pitching coach we had, a retired man who came from Connecticut and he helped our pitchers and that built confidence around our whole program once we had somebody in the circle who could throw strikes and be competitive. And then we built from there. I owe a lot to Everett Johnson.”
The current crop of Comets did their jobs Friday. Kylie Neveau drove in two runs and scored three times. Dasaro drove in a pair of runs and scored once, Brooke Barnette drove in a pair of runs and Cora Thomas scored twice. There were other totals (though a tough day on the Burlington side meant BFA scored its first three runs without the benefit of an RBI and plenty of others came through on errors), but it hasn’t been about the stats and scores for Berthiaume for a long time. To be fair, the man is likely fibbing if he tells you he can’t remember who converted the most squeeze plays in 1999, but the truth is he simply doesn’t care nearly as much as he cares how the 1999 team is doing today.
“There’s 270 girls that put on this uniform on the varsity level plus another 30 kids who have been managers, so I’m dealing with about 300 kids and that’s what I’m most proud of is the relationships I have with those 300 kids.” he said. “Now they’re doctors, they’re nurses, they’re teachers, whatever they are there’s so many people that gave to this program and accomplished so much, so I’m very proud of them.”
Berthiaume shouted with a smile to the gathered crowd that tomorrow the focus would be on getting win No. 501. He wasn’t entirely kidding, but unlike the young man who took over BFA softball in 1987, he’s focused on winning his next game with a group of successful young women instead of a group of good softball players.
“Early in my career it was a lot about wins and losses and trying to get that that championship, but as I’ve gotten older I appreciate the relationships I have with my former players more than anything. That, to me, is the greatest thing.”
Maybe another championship awaits, it would be his and BFA’s ninth, but if there’s one thing Friday reinforced, it’s that championships alone won’t set the standard for a good program.
