FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Liane Horiuchi and her mom, Diane Pedro, wear Tennessee colors. A second baseman, Horiuchi will play for the Vols next year.

Dreaming on

When varsity and club softball end,
Horiuchi is Tennessee-bound

IT'S said that a mother knows best. Diane Pedro knew her oldest daughter was a talented softball player, but she never quite expected this.

The Horiuchi file Name: Liane Horiuchi School: Kamehameha Grade: Senior Favorite movie: "Love and Basketball" Favorite food: Chinese Would like to meet: Oprah Winfrey Would like to visit: Bahamas Best pieces of advice received: » "Everyone is in control of their own destiny." » "It's not until you love the sport that one will become great at it"

In what started out as a mother's dream 11 years ago, the softball career of Kamehameha senior Liane Horiuchi came full circle when she recently signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Tennessee.

"It has been a work of art," Pedro said. "To see this whole process come into full bloom, watching her now is the best part."

A softball player in her high school days at Leilehua, Pedro introduced Horiuchi to the game in the first grade. Having to play with the boys, Pedro watched her daughter hold her own, and she knew early on that softball was going to run in the family.

"We were aware of her talent, but I never saw it blossoming into this," Pedro said.

Horiuchi enters her senior year at Kamehameha as a two-time All-State selection under coach Ty Sing Chow.

"She can do it all," Sing Chow said. "This year her role is going to be to do even more for the team and she's ready for it."

Horiuchi spent the past six offseasons on a Mililani club softball team, which has helped enable her to become the player she is.

"The coaches for my club team really push me hard," Horiuchi said of the Mililani Prep ASA club, which is guided by Jake Jicha. "We have more time to work on fundamentals and the basics, and it has really helped me get better."

The club season runs from late February to August, and provides a forum for local softball players to not only grow as players, but to get their names out for colleges to see. Every year, the team plays in a U.S. National tournament on the mainland, which is loaded with scouts from schools across the nation searching for top softball players.

Mililani Prep uses that tournament every year to expose its players to colleges around the country. "She's one of the top players we've ever had," assistant coach Chad Jicha said. "She has an amazing blend of both speed and power, and she's one of the most fundamentally sound defensive players out there."

Those characteristics drew the attention of schools all across the country, including Hawaii, Arizona State, Washington and Cal. But after visiting Tennessee last month, the choice became easier for Horiuchi to make.

"Their team is very family-oriented," Horiuchi said. "The coaching is what pulled me to go there, and I wanted to go someplace where I could mature both as a player and a person."

Liane was also faced with a strong pull to stay home and go to Hawaii. But in the end, the chance to go away for college was too good to pass up.

"UH has a great program and the coaches there are wonderful," Horiuchi said. "If it wasn't Tennessee, it'd probably be UH," Pedro added.

The importance of family that they stress at Tennessee was also a critical attribute for Pedro to feel comfortable sending her daughter so far away from home.

"I just wanted to make sure she'd be taken care of," Pedro said. "I can see the opportunity that's there for her. I almost wish I was the recruit."

On their trip to Knoxville in November, Horiuchi and her mother got to be on the field for a Tennessee-Notre Dame football game and they also met legendary Volunteers women's basketball coach Pat Summitt.

"She's very intimidating," Horiuchi said. "She seems like a very nice person and told me that I would enjoy it there."

While Summitt is well-known for being a perfectionist as a coach, the same can be said for Horiuchi as a softball player. Her attitude of never being satisfied with her play is what pushes her to continually become better.

"I'm a very competitive person," Horiuchi said. "Winning is the biggest thrill, and it's not the same if you lose."

"She might hit a home run or go 3-for-4 in a game, but if I asked her how she did, she'll just say OK and move on," Pedro said.

Horiuchi batted .486 during the ASA season last year, with nine home runs and 21 stolen bases. But she saved her best performance for the U.S. National tournament in Fresno, Calif., where she hit .500 and scored five runs and stole six bases in just six games.

"It was just a fun time," Horiuchi said of the trip, in which she got to visit the Golden Gate Bridge, amusement parks and the waterfront in San Francisco.

"Our team was really close, and we got to bond on that trip," she added.

Softball has provided Horiuchi many different experiences, but through it all, she has kept her family close and has stayed focused on academics just as much as her athletics.

"My parents have always stressed the importance of school, especially both of my grandpas," Horiuchi said. "Academics has always come before athletics."

An honor roll student at Kamehameha, Horiuchi still has one year of high school softball to go. Coming off a season in which she batted .471 with four home runs and 17 stolen bases, the second baseman's goals for this year remain the same.

"It's always to first win ILH and then states," she said. "I've pressured myself because it's my senior year, but we'll just take it one game at a time and go from there."

As she strives to continue forward in her career, Horiuchi uses the example of one of her biggest role models, U.S. Olympic second baseman Lovieanne Jung, who was also born in Hawaii.

"She just proves that anyone can reach their goals -- you just have to have the heart and desire to do it," Horiuchi said.

And throughout the whole process of getting to that point, Horiuchi will always have her mother guiding her every step of the way.

"I'm living this dream through her," Pedro said. "I'm looking forward to her future."

A future that began as one mother's dream.