For the past three years, Kayla Brophy dreamt what this spring would be like. A steady contributor to the Saline High School softball team since she was a freshman, this was her time.

She was going to be a senior captain in the pitching circle. After splitting time with upperclassmen - including her own sister, Lisa, for two years - this year’s Hornet squad was going to be Brophy’s team to put on her shoulders and carry.

“This is the year I’ve been waiting for. This was my big goal,” Brophy says. “You can really have your perspective changed on everything.”

It didn’t happen. Instead, she spent February, March and April in a light-headed, queasy-stomached fog. She missed 10 weeks of school. She made numerous trips to the emergency room for intravenous fluids. She took a battery of tests administered by a battery of doctors.

No, this most certainly has not been Kayla Brophy’s spring. And nobody is quite sure why.

Doctors never were able to definitively diagnose Brophy, who finally made an emotional return appearance to the Saline lineup in the Hornets’ 20th game of the season, a win over Skyline on May 7.

It was a partial return, because coach Alicia Seegert still isn’t comfortable with putting Brophy - who lost 24 pounds, along with plenty of strength and reaction time - in the pitching circle or the batter’s box.

For now, she might be the most talented defensive specialist in Washtenaw County. And she’s fine with that.

“I can’t even describe how good it felt to just play again,” said Brophy, who lined up at second base. “Especially as a captain, it means so much to be there for my team and feel like I was having an impact on the game.

“I certainly learned that things don’t go as planned. And I learned that’s it’s not all about yourself or what position you play.”

It all started on Jan. 30 when Brophy was suffering from severe flu-like symptoms. Maybe it was the flu. Or maybe it was food poisoning? A virus? Nobody is sure.

But when she turned gray and clammy, Carol and Steve Brophy decided to drive their middle child to the emergency room. When Kayla kept losing consciousness as they tried to put on her shoes, Carol and Steve decided to call an ambulance.

After that night’s scare and a two-day hospital stay, Brophy embarked on a 90-day cycle of continuing illness and frustration. With all tests coming back negative, doctors were left to assume that she was battling a virus or simply needed to wait as her body corrected itself from the loop it was thrown for on Jan. 30.

“Once we got past that first night, I don’t think it was so much we were worrying about her life being threatened,” Carol Brophy says. “We were concerned she would never resume normal activity. She still has moments, still has days … I wouldn’t say she’s 100 percent quite yet.”

Brophy, who carries a 4.01 grade point average and plans to major in pre-Pharmacy in college, tried to force herself to attend school. She’d get home and realize that because of her nearly continuous light-headed, exhausted state, she’d remembered nothing her teachers had said.

Throughout the months of being in-and-out of school and in-and-out of emergency rooms for rehydration and blood pressure checks, she kept an eye on one date on the calendar: March 15. The first day of softball practice.

The week before tryouts was a good week for Kayla. She was feeling better, was able to focus in school. Maybe things were going to work out after all.

The weekend after tryouts, however, she made two trips to the emergency room. She was suddenly sicker than ever and she knew her dream of leading the Hornets from the pitching circle was over.

Brophy was relegated to cheering on her team from the sidelines whenever she was able to attend games or practices.

“It was a big blow not having her on the field because she’s such a leader,” Seegert said. “You can only lead so much in the dugout. She was frustrated. It was crushing her.”

When Brophy finally was well enough early this month - stringing together more good days than bad days - her first order of business was catching up academically. After a solid two-week stretch of health, she took her new position on the softball field.

“It was emotional to see her out there, knowing how important it was to her,” Carol Brophy says. “There were tears.”

Along with her new position, Brophy says she also has a new perspective on life and sports.

“I’m just thankful for every day when I wake up and feel good,” Brophy says. “My goal is to keep going, day-by-day, and keep positive with everything.

“I really just want to enjoy every moment I have with my team since I already missed out on so much of the season.”