The Devils Lake Journal is pleased to be restoring its sports coverage with the hiring of Joseph “Mojo” Hill. Born as Joseph Earl Hill, V, he earned the nickname “Mojo” from a young age and has kept it ever since.
Mojo grew up all the way down in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Notre Dame High School, which has seen numerous celebrities and athletes — such as Rami Malek, Giancarlo Stanton, Kirsten Dunst, Hunter Greene and Sylvester Stallone’s daughters, to name a few — come through its ranks. He was also the captain of his high school tennis team and played bass clarinet in the marching band.
From there, he earned his Bachelor of Science in journalism at the University of Oregon. He was a sports editor and writer for his student newspaper, the Daily Emerald, with whom he covered multiple sports with an emphasis on baseball. He covered every single Oregon baseball game in 2023, which led him to the Pac-12 tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Ducks, who were one of the top 25 teams in the country, won the tournament championship with Mojo covering their every move from the press box.
Mojo grew up a Dodgers fan, but also follows the Mets closely being that his dad grew up in New York City. He’s been writing for the blog MetsmerizedOnline.com since his junior year of high school, and he still works there part-time today as an editor.
Last summer, Mojo interned as the beat reporter for the Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod Baseball League, the country’s premier collegiate summer league. He spent two months with some of the best baseball players and young journalists in the United States, which culminated in the team’s second consecutive championship.
Shortly following his internship, Mojo drove 13,000 miles around the country as both a graduation present and a passion project, tracking down obscure movie locations from all around the U.S. The basic route went from Oregon, through Utah and Colorado, up into Michigan, over to New York, down to Florida, across to LA and back up to Oregon.
Now, he finds himself in a part of the country he’s never been in – North Dakota. Despite the drastic change, Mojo is excited for this next adventure and to be covering sports professionally for a passionate community.
Outside of sports writing, Mojo enjoys watching movies, reading and writing fiction, and finding time for tennis and playing instruments when he can. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter @mojohill22, or send him an email at jhill@devilslakejournal.com.
