Alexandra “Zami” (Mogill) Hay STREATOR Accomplishments • Playing for her father at SHS, Mogill was the star pitcher on Streator’s 1983 Class A state championship team, which remains the school’s only state title • Attended Eastern Illinois University, where she was All-Gateway Conference MVP in 1988, a three-time all-conference selection and held 11 school records • An American Softball Association Second Team All-American, she was invited to try out for the Pan American Games • Member of the EIU Hall of Fame, named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team and her likeness is featured in a mural tribute to female athletes at Lantz Arena on the EIU campus
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
By Andy Tavegia
W
hen Alexandra “Zami” (Mogill) Hay walked down the street as a youngster to give Joy Ozretich $5 to join Streator Girls Softball, she thought she was just following the lead of her best friend, Amy Pedelty. She had no idea the Pandora’s box she was about to open. “I didn’t know anything about it; I didn’t even know how to spell,” Hay joked. “Our coach said, ‘Write down three positions you want to play.’ I was afraid I would spell ‘Field’ wrong. I thought catcher was safe, so I wrote that down and started as a catcher. It wasn’t really a conscious decision. I think it’s a matter of where you find success you tend to find the love for it.” If that’s the case, she found plenty of love because success has followed her throughout her softball and her professional lives, including a spot in the Class of 2020-21 in the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
WHERE are they NOW
See Hay Page 22
A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | September 29, 2021 21
