The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 -13A
After being cut twice, Herrmann made squad as bullpen catcher
HERRMANN From Page 12A
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 chil-
dren's hospital for treatment.
Rachael had a 107-degree tem-
perature. For the first couple days,
the doctors weren't sure she'd sur-
vive. Even when treated properly,
5 to 15 percent of those diagnosed
with the disease won't survive,
according to the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention.
4 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 lit-
tle 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 Her-
rmanns went to church. On the
way back home, Scott popped a
Sandi Patty tape in the car stereo.
All of a sudden, Rachael was clap-
ping along in the backseat like she
did before her bout with meningi-
tis.
"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 rou-
tine hearing test in kindergar-
ten. 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 Michi-
gan's team.
Growing up, her father was a
huge Wolverine fan because his
grandfather went to school there.
"I've always admired (Michi-
gan) 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.
Rachael decided she still want-
ed to go to Michigan, even if she
couldn't play softball. Not want-
ing to lead them on, she didn't give
other schools the time of day. She
knew she wanted to go to Michi-
gan, even if it wasn't on scholar-
ship and her parents would have
to pay for everything.
"Don't think this child did not
give us a lot of gray hair" Gina
said.
Today, Rachael and her par-
ents can't even name many of the
schools that offered her a scholar-
ship. The interestjust wasn'ttthere.
It was all focused on Michigan.
After Rachael was accepted to
school, Hutchins met with her,
encouraged her to come to tryouts
and told her she needed a catcher.
Monica Shock was graduating and
Tiffany Worthy, who graduated
last year, had back surgery.
CUTS RUN DEEP
After that conversation, plans
changed. Worthy healed in time
for the season, and Becky Marx
transferred from Loyola (Chica-
go).
After Rachael's tryout, she was
told she'd receive a call between
8 and 10 p.m. if she had made the
team. Gina called a few times dur-
ing the period, asking whether
there was any word yet. Deep
down she knew Rachael would've
already called.
When Gina hadn't heard from
Rachael by 10:05, she picked up the
phone and dialed her daughter.
"It was sad," Gina said. "It's
really sad. She ws -ally, not
mad, she was emotisnal. ... And, of
course, being that we wen't right
there to hug her, Oe were many
miles, many hours away, we could
not cope with her."
But Hutchins had an offer
for Herrmann. The coach asked
Rachael to be the team's assistant
manager, and she quickly accept-
ed.
"As a coach, I could get emo-
tionally attached to every time I'm
the bad guy," Hutchins said. "So I
try to stay away from that. But I
admire kids who have the guts to
come out."
Marx and Worthy helped lead
Michigan to a National Champion-
ship that year, starting all but one
game at catcher between the two
of them.
"(Marx) was like manna from
heaven, so necessary, so needed,"
Gina said. "I don't think Rachael
would ever be prepared to do
things at that level. Becky was the
right choice and the right person
at the time."
Rachael, who ran the timed
mile and conditioned with the
team when she was the manager,
didn't make the team her sopho-
more year either, but became the
head manager.
FITTING IN
Rachael shied away from talk-
ing about her hearing loss grow-
ing up. She wouldn't tell people
about it until it caused a problem.
Sometimes people were offended
because they thought she was
ignoring them.
"Her older sister and myself
were kind of ruthless when it came
to desensitizing Rachael because
Rachael has always been so sensi-
tive and so serious," Gina said. "She
couldn't laugh at herself to us. We
spent a lot of time laughing at her
about some of the silly things she
would do. And I have to tell you,
she'd get real mad at us."
Their plan worked. Rachael
now jokes with her teammates
and makes fun of herself about
her hearing loss.
While she hasn't gone to such
extremes at Michigan, in a high
school game, her sister, Valer-
ie, was pitching to her and had
a couple of pitches get away.
Rachael called timeout, walked
out to the pitcher's circle, and,
in all of her catcher's equipment,
did the Worm.
Her teammates definitely took
notice of all the help Rachael
gave them. Two years ago, the
Wolverines decided to throw
Rachael a surprise party to show
their gratitude for all the hard
work she had put in for them as a
manager. A mass e-mail was sent
out announcing a team barbecue,
but all the other players knew the
real intention of the event.
But Rachael's e-mail address
was entered incorrectly in the
e-mail, so she didn't know about
the event. By chance, she ran into
then-second baseman Tiffany
Haas the day of the party. Haas
asked Rachael if she was com-
ing, but Rachael had no idea what
Haas what talking about. Haas
convinced Rachael to come, and
the plan was in motion.
Everyone went early to then-
junior Stephanie Winter's condo
to decorate it with signs express-
ing appreciation for Rachael.
"It was funny because I got
there, and everyone's already
there," Rachael said. "And I'm
always really early. So I was like
'This is kind of weird. What's
going on?"'
The Wolverines were honor-
ing one of favorite people in the
program. Although she was just a
manager at the time, in so many
ways, she was already like a mem-
ber of the team.
Rachael has hung out with most,
if not every player, individually.
Her parents consider them to be
like daughters. She went to church
with some of the players her fresh-
man year. Although Rachael may
have been a bit more reserved
around the players when she was a
manager, their attitude toward her
never changed.
"When I have kids, I want my
kids to be like Rachael," said Sta-
cey Delaney, who pitched two
years for Michigan before trans-
ferring to Missouri. "She's just so
loving and will do anything for
everyone. (She) always has a posi-
tive attitude. You can never get her
down."
When Michigan won the Big
Ten Title in 2005, Rachael, even as
the assistant manager, got a ring
along with the rest of the team.
Withouttellinghim, she ordered
a man's ring fit for her father. The
next time her parents came to Ann
Arbor to visit, she got down on one
knee and presented him with the
ring and thanked him for sending
her to Michigan.
"Boy, you talk about a heart
strain," said Scott, who's a self-
described tough guy and "built
like a tank." "That was definitely
a milestone. We'll never forget
that."
Rachael's gesture brought back
the dreams her father once had.
"If I would've had my choice, if I
could've turned the clock back and
worked a little harder, a dream of
mine would've been to be a tail-
back at Michigan," Scott said. "It's
not the same thing, but the ring
looks very similar."
SUCCESS
In softball, threes usually signal
the end.
Three strikes and you're out.
Three outs end a half-inning.
And for Rachael, three cuts
would've ended her prospective
Michigan softball career.
After being cut twice already,
Rachael's mind swirled as she con-
templated trying out for the third
time before last season.
"I don't know."
"I'll regret it if I don't."
"I have nothing to lose."
So, she decided she would go out
for Hutchins' team once more, but
if Rachael didn't make it this time,
she wasn't going to try out her
senior year. She would just remain
the team manager.
Rachael was having dinner with
friends that night when she got a
call saying she made the team.
"I was just tickled by the fact
that my entire team was so excit-
ed," Hutchins said. "So you knew
it was the right move."
Marx called Hutchins and left
a very short message: "Way to go
Hutch! Great move!"
Rachael has played in two
games each of her two seasons on
the team. Her first this year came
against Florida Atlantic, the Wol-
verines' fourth game of the year.
Freshman Alycia Ryan pinch
ran for sophomore catcher Roya
St. Clair in the eighth inning.
Rachael hadn't caught in the bull-
pen all game, and until assistant
coach Jennifer Brundage told her
she'd be catching the next inning,
it never occurred to Rachael she'd
be in.
In the top of the ninth, a pair of
Jordan Taylor curveballs got by
her, which allowed the runner on
second base score. But freshman
Dorian Shaw homered in the bot-
tom of the inning to give Michigan
the win. Like it has so many times
for her, despite trouble, everything
turned out well for Rachael.
"That kid's going to go do well
in life," Hutchins said. "That's all I
can say. The kids you admire aren't
always the kids who hit home
runs."
I I I
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