Five years ago, Jerzie Liana was in the midst of her growth as a hula dancer.

Today, the Kapolei pitching ace hasn’t lost her fondness for hula and Tahitian dance.

“I miss it. Before softball, that was pretty much my everything,” she said.

Everything changed one day.

“One of my hula sisters, her mom was a coach and they needed an extra player, so they asked and I said yes. My parents left it to me to decide,” said Liana, who was 11 at the time. “If nobody had asked me, I probably would have never played softball.”

On Saturday, Liana fired another gem to lead Kapolei to its first OIA softball title since 2016. In playoff wins over Waianae, Campbell and Mililani on consecutive nights, she permitted just four runs, including a three-hit shutout against the Trojans with five strikeouts and just one walk.

“I’m definitely in shock because there’s a lot of good teams, but I’m proud of my team and how far we’ve come,” Liana said.

A remarkable rise, to say the least, rooted in countless hours of work. Liana was Kapolei’s starting shortstop as a freshman, used as a part-time pitcher in 2020 and the abbreviated ’21 season. She had no real sense that she might be the go-to pitcher until recently, even with a standout regular season.

“I got the realization because Coach Enson (Queypo) said he’s going to ride me for playoffs and states,” Liana said. “The first two games (of the OIA playoffs), I felt a little fatigued after the Campbell game. I was able to rest and stretch through (Saturday). I really relied on hitting my spots and my spin, and my defense backed me up.”

The coach’s decision proved correct.

“Jerzie’s been doing it all season for us. She’s our workhorse. We’re going to ride her all the way. She has a very high IQ as far as her pitching,” Kapolei interim head coach Queypo said.

In league play, Liana had a 9-1 record with a 1.54 earned-run average and 61 strikeouts in 63 innings with just 17 walks. She also pitched in a win over Kailua and a loss to Kamehameha at the Trojan Classic in early March.

During the offseason, her fastball was clocked at 63 mph.

“I want to try and get up to mid-60s, high-60s,” she said. “My curveball improved. I just continued to practice and make sure my spin is there, and not try to muscle it with my speed.”

The junior right-hander also has a gaudy number in the classroom — a 3.9 grade-point average. Liana has already committed to Cal State Northridge.

“She’s outstanding at both softball and academics,” said coach Keoke Behic, currently on a personal leave from the team. “She deserves everything she has accomplished.”

In her five years of softball, even the pandemic didn’t restrict her development.

“Without Coach Keoke there, a lot of times, we call pitches, but if she doesn’t like what we give her, we give her the green light to do what she wants to do,” Queypo said. “As far as pitching has gone, she’s done a really, really good job. We’ve been trying to help out each other as well as keep her sharp as possible.”

Years of practices, workouts and drills have transformed the former infielder into a new creation.

“The thing about Jerzie is she doesn’t want to come out of the game. I can never pull her out. She’s a hard worker. She’s the heart and soul of our team. She can do it all. She does it all for us. She’s a humble girl and leads by example. She doesn’t have to talk that much. She leads by her actions,” Queypo said.

Liana is the oldest of three children. Her first name was inspired by a movie.

“ ‘Coyote Ugly,’ the main character’s name was Jersey and my dad and mom really liked the name, so they named me Jerzie. They added a ‘z’ in there,” she said. “I’m glad I have a unique name.”

Brothers Ainzley, an eighth grader, and Kaizen, a fifth grader, have ‘z’ as the fourth letter in their names, just like their sister.

Their roots begin in Waianae. Back in the day, Ainsley Liana — grandson Ainzley’s namesake — was a pastor. He planted the seeds for the next generation of Liana athletes.

“I would like to travel back into the past and see my papa. I never got to meet him and I have heard a lot about him. He is the main reason why my family and I go to God for help when we need it,” Jerzie Liana said. “He was really hard on my dad about sports. Made him run in the valley and run all the way to Pokai Beach. He got to swim, and then he would run back.”

When Liana decided to try softball, it wasn’t an instantaneous, legendary moment.

“I had to buy a glove from Sports Authority. Everything was from there. My first practice, I don’t remember 100 percent of it, but it wasn’t the greatest,” she said.

Kealiiokekai Liana is supportive as a mother and a fan of her only daughter.

“I was worried and excited for her at the same time when I saw the caliber out there and Jerz just beginning to learn the sport at 11. I knew she would need to put in a lot of work if she wanted to be competitive,” she said. “Thank God, her daddy is athletic and Jerz was determined.”

Eventually, Liana learned the game, playing for the Waianae Wildcats, Hawaii Titans, R&R Gold, Hustlers, Momentum and her current club team, Lady Knights Black Hawaii. Her acceleration as a pitcher after years as a field position player was astounding. She credits her father, Jacob, who played football and graduated in 1992 from Waianae.

“My dad was like the Google coach. He would try different things, different drills to try and help me. Warm-up techniques and a couple of drills, that was the best thing,” said Liana, who last year changed her jersey number to 12 — which her father wore at Waianae.

She went on to play for Hustlers, a team from Kalaeloa, which was her age group. As a ninth grader, she played for Momentum, an 18U travel squad led by her eventual high school coach, Behic.

“That’s the first time I got to travel. I was the second baseman and one of the pitchers. I thought my future was going to be shortstop or third baseman. I always knew that I had pitching behind me as an extra,” she said.

The team traveled to Oregon, did college visits and played in a tournament. It was a bright new world for Liana and best friend Moani Ioane.

“We won the 18U division. Me and Moani were the youngest starters,” she said. “At that time, it felt like it was going very slow. I was taking it day by day.”

When freshman season arrived at Kapolei, Liana got the good news. Coach Behic decided to start her at shortstop. The season, of course, didn’t last.

“That season was cut short because of COVID. I still had my front yard, so me and my dad were practicing,” she said.

Hitting into the net, fielding reps, pitching.

“My dad got a catcher’s mitt. He didn’t play baseball when he was young because games were on Sundays and Sundays were for church. He plays slow-pitch softball for OCCC,” Liana said.

Slowly, but surely, Liana began to master her fastball, curveball and screwball. She later added a riser and change-up. When she wasn’t getting softball reps, she and Ioane, who lives close by, went to Ioane’s uncle’s house to lift weights. During those long stretches without club games or travel, her fire grew.

“There’s a lot of pressure in the circle. They’re relying on you to get strikes. There’s a lot more to it, being a person willing to be a leader of the team,” she said. “I enjoyed throwing in the front yard.”

Restrictions eventually eased.

“Coach Joss Danz of Lady Knights Black Hawaii called my dad. The coach saw me at a tournament while I was playing for Momentum and Hustlers. They were going to a (local) tournament and they were looking for a pitcher,” Liana said. “It was the first time someone contacted my father personally to play with them.”

She wasn’t sure how far things could go in softball. She just knew her father would be ready to work out every day.

“My dad, at times, opens up and says he’s proud of me, but most times, he’s closed off to things,” she said. “He likes to hide things. When he’s at my games, I’m looking at him and I can’t read how he’s feeling because he’s wearing his sunglasses.”

Liana returned from a January mainland tournament with a fresh outlook.

“It was an eye-opener to learn what we have to be better at,” she said.

In the summer of 2021, Liana had the softball trip of her young life.

“That was a huge thing for me because I traveled with Lady Knights again and we went to Oregon, then California and just played softball all summer,” she said. “We contacted college coaches. We emailed them. College coaches can’t contact us until junior year.”

When junior year arrived, she received offers from St. Martin’s and CSUN. Other schools made contact. Ioane and Liana committed to CSUN.

“ I like how the coaches are family-oriented. They’re just really nice. I haven’t visited yet, but Moani saw the campus and really liked it.”

The two Hurricanes teamamtes have many of the same motivations in play. There’s nothing like a best friend.

“She is an amazing woman inside and out. She’s been my shoulder to cry on, my hype man, my sister, the one who pushed me. She is someone who won’t let you give up on yourself,” Ioane said.

Liana took the mound as a part-time starting pitcher for Kapolei this spring at the Trojan Softball Classic, which featured many of the top teams in the state.

“I wasn’t nervous. I was used to pitching and stuff, but it was surprising for me to be starting. I learned a lot about what pitches I need to work on and what I need to work on as far as hitting and fielding. We learned that we needed to be together, not separated,” Liana said.

Ioane leads the Hurricanes with seven home runs in league action, but Liana’s bat is on fire, too. She socked a three-run home run in the semifinal win over Campbell. She is batting .512 with a team-high 21 hits, adding 12 RBIs out of the leadoff spot.

She has been especially lethal against Mililani. In three games, Liana is 7-for-11 with five runs scored against the Lady Trojans.

Up next: the Datahouse/HHSAA State Championships on May 9-12 at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, the same site as the recent OIA semifinals and finals.

“The stadium felt good. It felt like a lot of noise, but it helped me want to do better and push through for my team. A stadium is nice, unlike a field where the mound isn’t the greatest and there’s bad hops everywhere,” she said.

Kapolei is tied with ‘Iolani for No. 1 in the state this week, at the top of the Star-Advertiser Softball Top 10 for the first time this season. The ’Canes never paid attention, though. Liana embraces competition, and her teammates do likewise.

“I think states is going to be a challenge, but I’m up for it,” she said. “I can’t wait.”