[ HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha shortstop Sharee Fonoti credits her father for her penchant for playing defense. "He used to hit grounders to me when I was really small. He'd hit it harder and harder, but I would always force myself to stay in front of the ball," Fonoti said.
Back to the Future
Kamehameha senior Sharee Fonoti
would like nothing better than to
return to the state softball title game
For Kamehameha senior Sharee Fonoti, life as a softball player has been a roller-coaster ride. With one state championship and two runner-up finishes in her three years on the varsity softball team, Fonoti knows this year is about one thing, and one thing only.
Winning the state championship.
"We've been so close to winning every year I've been here," Fonoti said. "I won't be here next year, so this is it."
If there is ever a year where Kamehameha is primed for a title run, this is it. The Warriors have six senior starters who have committed to play softball in college, including Fonoti, who will play for the University of Utah next fall.
"I'm excited," she said. "I wanted to go away to school for college and getting a full ride to play on the mainland somewhere has always been my dream."
That dream was fulfilled this past summer at an American Softball Association tournament in Colorado. Scouts from colleges across the nation were there, but schools could not talk to the players until their teams were eliminated from the tournament.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sharee Fonoti kept Kailua's Danielle Young close to the bag in a game earlier this season.
When Fonoti's team was sent packing, coaches from Utah met her that very night to offer a scholarship, saying that she could start at shortstop as a freshman. After spending the rest of the summer mulling over schools, Fonoti flew up in September to the Utah campus, where she finally committed.
"It's nice to know where I'll be going," she said. "But for now, the focus is on this season only."
With her final season of high school softball under way, Fonoti hasn't had much chance to think back on her softball career, which began in the backyard with her father when she was only 4.
"He used to hit grounders to me when I was really small," she said about her dad. "He'd hit it harder and harder, but I would always force myself to stay in front of the ball.
"I think doing that is why I like defense more than any other part of the game."
Her defense is what has her playing one of the toughest defensive positions on the field. After her sophomore season, Kamehameha head coach Ty Sing Chow moved her to shortstop after she started out playing third base and pitcher.
"One of the reasons she's one of our captains this year is that she's willing to sacrifice for the team," Sing Chow said. "She started at third base as a freshman, but when we needed a shortstop, she was right there to step in and play well."
She's played so well in fact, that this season she has a perfect fielding percentage, as well as two assists.
"I owe it to my dad hitting me all those ground balls when I was younger," she said.
"I've had good coaches, but my dad has always been my main coach. I owe this all to him."
While Fonoti has all the physical tools, Sing Chow concedes she's also able to succeed because she's tough mentally.
"She wants to win as badly as anybody," he said.
"She wants to be the person in the spotlight with the ball and the game on the line."
She's gained most of her confidence from playing in softball tournaments all around the country. Along with Colorado last summer, she has also played in California and Missouri among others, and competed in mainland tournaments every summer since the sixth grade.
"It's just something I love to do, and to be able to go to the mainland to play it is even better," she said.
Her passion for the game, her love of defense, and her dedication to the team has Kamehameha riding high as the school looks to reclaim its status as state softball champions.
