The day was taking too long to end.

The Michigan softball team opened play at Alumni Field last year with a doubleheader against Western Michigan.

The first game was an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller. Lorilyn Wilson came within one out of throwing a no-hitter, and then-freshman Angela Findlay hit a walk-off grand slam.

The second was mundanely one-sided. After a rain delay stretched the break between the games, the Wolverines led the Broncos 7-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning of game two. A few more outs, and everyone could go home.

Michigan coach Carol Hutchins decided to let some bench players pinch hit, giving a bit of life to the dragging evening.

"I try not to forget how important that is to a kid," Hutchins said.

With one on and one out, Hutchins called on Rachael Herrmann to step up to the plate.

Herrmann was surprised. A team manager the past two years, the walk-on didn't expect to do anything other than catch in the bullpen and cheer on her teammates. This time, the roles were reversed.

"I was so excited," sophomore pitcher Nikki Nemitz said. "I was up on the fence just cheering for her, wanting her to hit that ball so hard."

But Herrmann, who grounded into a fielder's choice, didn't hear her teammates' encouragement.

At a loss

Last year in the Donald R. Shepherd Softball Building, Hutchins was asked whether anything surprised her about Herrmann since she joined the team.

"She still can't hear a word I say," Hutchins said. "She has one good ear and one bad ear."

And then, a voice came from around the corner: "I heard that!"

Herrmann is nearly deaf. The Owensville, Ohio native has no hearing in her left ear and 20-to-40 percent loss in her right.

One night when she was a year old, Herrmann fell ill. Her parents thought she had the flu because she was "very stiff, very pale," her father Scott Herrmann said. He had the week off to go hunting, so he took Rachael to the doctor the next morning.

The doctor diagnosed Rachael with bacterial meningitis. She was immediately rushed to the children's hospital for treatment.

Rachael had a 107-degree temperature. For the first couple days, the doctors weren't sure she'd survive. Even when treated properly, 5 to 15 percent of those diagnosed with the disease won't survive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rachael's condition eventually stabilized, but a test showed her hearing was permanently gone.

"One of the things I remember thinking right away was 'That's OK,' " her mother Gina Herrmann said. " 'I have my baby in my arms and I'll learn sign. I can deal with this.' "

When the Herrmanns took Rachael home, she was completely deaf.

"She was always such a good little thing," Gina said. "She'd smile at you. Even though she couldn't hear anything, as long you just rubbed on her, hugged her, she was content."

A couple weeks later, the Herrmanns went to church. On the way back home, Scott popped a Sandi Patty tape in the car stereo. All of a sudden, Rachael was clapping along in the backseat like she did before her bout with meningitis.

"It startled us," Gina said. "We're like 'What?' "

Her parents took her back to the hospital to run the hearing test again. This time it showed Rachael's hearing was nearly 100 percent.

But then she failed her routine hearing test in kindergarten. The test said her hearing was completely gone in her left ear and mostly gone in the right. Her teacher couldn't believe it, because Rachael was at the top of her class.

Rachael had learned to read lips so well on her own that those around her didn't even realize her hearing had gone away again.

Coming to Michigan

Rachael hit .630 with 36 RBI her junior year of high school and was named second team all-state. Her stats dipped her senior season (.480, 17 RBI), but she still made second team all-state.

Those numbers and accolades garnered Rachael her fair share of attention from lower-level college coaches. But Rachael passed up offers from Ball State, Findlay and Tiffin for a shot at making Michigan's team.

Growing up, her father was a huge Wolverine fan because his grandfather went to school there.

"I've always admired (Michigan) from afar and set a high stand for, and dreams of, maybe one of the children going there someday," Scott said.

Scott's admiration for the school carried over to Rachael. When she went to Michigan's softball camp the summer before her junior year of high school, her desire to go to Michigan only increased. She wanted to play for Hutchins, but the coach decided she wasn't going to offer Rachael a scholarship.