Vandy coach finds a diamond in the rough

In 1978, Vandebilt Catholic athletic director Gerald Albert had a difficult decision to make.

No one wanted to coach the school’s nascent softball team. So Albert could either terminate the sport or do what he had done since he was first hired as head basketball coach in 1961.

“Whenever there was a coaching opening we couldn’t fill, I would step in and coach that so we could continue to compete,” he said.

History would show that Albert chose wisely. During his seven-year stint (1978-84) as softball coach, the Lady Terriers went 185-12 and won five consecutive state championships (1980-84). The team added another title the year after he left to set a then-national record.

“In those years, we were [in Class] 2A, and in the playoffs 2A and 3A were combined,” Albert recalled. “So we had to be the best team in 2A and 3A.”

During a stretch between 1980 and 1983, the team won 112 consecutive games, another national mark.

“It looked like we had an influx of good athletes at that time,” Albert said matter-of-factly. “We were really successful with it.”

Two of those good athletes were Michelle Broussard, a leftfielder and catcher who finished her career 88-0, and current Vandy coach Margaret Johnson, a shortstop, who was “one of the best softball players I had,” he said.

In 1983, Albert was named National Softball Coach of the Year. “The nation divided into regions and I was named the coach of the year in the Southeast Region,” he said. “Then I went to Albuquerque, N.M., where they had a big banquet and [former LSU athletic director] Joe Dean happened to be the guest speaker there.”

The end of Albert’s tenure as Vandebilt softball came as suddenly as his overwhelming success.

“Right before we went to the state tournament [in 1984], I was called in by the administration and was told my contract would not be renewed,” he said.

The reason given for parting ways was a “difference in philosophy,” according to Albert.

After 23 years at Vandebilt, Albert went to H.L. Bourgeois High School. He only coached softball 12 of his 17 years at Bourgeois and never quite recaptured the magic he had at Vandebilt. However, success and talented players did follow him.

Albert led the Lady Braves to a state championship in 1992. The Lady Braves were state runner-up three times – in 1989, 1991 and 1995.

“We had an outstanding pitcher by the name of Joni Dusenbury,” he recollected. “She pitched four years for us and finished her career with 118 wins and 17 losses.”

Albert quit coaching softball in 1998 to become the school’s assistant baseball coach. The move allowed him to be closer to his two nephews, whom he had coached since T-ball. In 2001, he retired from coaching.

Albert’s legacy as a softball coach is astounding considering his limited experience with the sport.

“I had never played fast-pitch softball; I did play years of slow-pitch softball in college and after college,” he said.

A Thibodaux native, Albert played basketball at Nicholls for four years and graduated in 1961 with degrees in physical education and social studies.

That fall, he was hired by St. Francis (Vandebilt’s former name) as its basketball coach to develop the sport at the primarily football- and baseball-dominated school.

“At that time, we didn’t have a gymnasium,” he said. ‘We had to practice on an outdoor cement court.”

In 1970, he led the Terriers to their only appearance in the Top 20 state playoff tournament.

After 10 seasons, he left that post to become athletic director.

When Vandebilt started the softball program in 1973, it was the first school in the area to do so.

After five lackluster years, he took over and brought in someone to work with his pitchers.

“We had a professor at Nicholls by the name of Harold Buckmaster,” he remembered. “He was one of the outstanding fast-pitch softball pitchers in the state. He played for years in the service.”

The Lady Terriers made the playoffs his first two seasons at the helm before propelling themselves to those five straight state titles.

Albert attributes the championship run to time-tested virtues that all great teams possess.

“It’s hard to explain what made us that successful,” he claimed. “A lot of dedication and hard work and togetherness between the girls and myself.

Today, the 68-year-old spends most days with his wife of 45 years, Ora, and the slew of nieces and nephews they babysit.

Besides his hobby for gardening, he still closely follows high school sports.

“I enjoy watching high school football, basketball, baseball and softball,” he said. “I get to as many games at Vandebilt as I can.”

Watching his former player Johnson, who has won seven state titles in her 19 years as the Lady Terriers’ coach, has been especially fulfilling for Albert.

“I can’t ever remember her missing a practice or a game,” he recalled. “She was just super-dedicated and has now developed into just an outstanding coach.”

“Now it’s just a tradition,” he added. “When Vandebilt plays, people expect them to win.”

Vandy coach finds a diamond in the rough