STRASBURG, Ill. (WCIA) – Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg’s Samantha Hayes was named the WCIA 3 Female Athlete of the Year on Thursday.

Hayes, who played volleyball, basketball and softball, has always hated to lose.

She has three sisters but says growing up she was the most hot-headed.

“I just remember one time, I was at home and I just threw my glove on the ground,” Hayes said.

Over time, she dialed in that competitive drive led and it her to more than 1,000 career points on the basketball court.

“Sam has been a competitor for forever,” Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg head softball coach Lindsay Krumreich said.

She also was a two-time varsity letter winner in volleyball.

However, it’s always been the pitcher’s circle where Hayes felt at home.

“I like being outside, the practices go by faster,” Hayes said. “All around, I like [softball] a lot better.”

Eighth grade was when people really began to take notice of her pitching ability.

“She started locating her pitches well, learning some new pitches and knew she was going to be great in high school,” Krumreich said.

As her talent developed, so did her character.

“It’s a fun game. It’s really fun to win, sucks to lose obviously,” Hayes said. “But it’s so much more than that. It’s how you treat other people and how you leave it on the field, and how you act around other people.”

She earned first team all-conference and first-team all-state. She threw a perfect game and a no-hitter as a senior. She hit a career .461. But it’s not the numbers, or even the wins, that Hayes will remember most.

“The feelings of the team and the community especially,” she said. “The community is just really here for us, really supporting us.”

The Hatchet graduate throws six pitches and calls her changeup the most effective.

Coaches say her impact on the school and community goes far beyond strikeouts, baskets and spikes.

“Just one of those kids she’s just really fun to be around,” Stew-Stras head girls’ basketball coach Brian Lee said. “Great teammate, great leader. She’s just whatever you need and the younger kids eat it up.”

“Such a great group of kids and Samantha leads the way always in every sport and in the community,” Krumreich said.

Hayes was also a salutatorian in her graduating class. She plans to continue her softball career at Jefferson College in Missouri.

Click here for the 2025 WCIA 3 Male Athlete of the Year winner.

WCIA 3 FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS:

2025: Samantha Hayes (Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg)

2024: Becca Heitzig (Lincoln)

2023: Trixie Johnson (Paxton-Buckley-Loda)

2022: Alyssa Williams (Tuscola)

2021: Shae Littleford (Charleston)

2020: Katelyn Young (Oakwood)