OU Softball: Oklahoma's Home Run Village is Back for Norman Regional

The Sooners host their four-team regional this weekend at Marita Hynes Field, and fans can take part in the interactive entertaining area beyond the outfield wall.

John E. Hoover | May 16, 2023

By OU Media Relations

Home Run Village returns for the 2023 postseason outside Marita Hynes Field for this weekend's NCAA Norman Regional.

Home Run Village, presented by Sooner Sports Properties and the People of Oklahoma Oil and Natural Gas, started during the 2021 postseason and is an interactive fan entertainment area on the lawn immediately west of Marita Hynes Field.

Although tickets are sold out for this weekend's regional, Home Run Village gives fans a free option to come be a part of the atmosphere at the OU Softball Complex.

The fan fest will open two hours prior to first pitch and run through all games with a 9x16 ANC Mobile Video Board showing game action live with the 107.7 The Franchise radio feed synced with the game. Fans with tickets that attend the pregame festivities may enter the stadium via the gate beyond left field. Note that HRV will only be open during the OU games, not any neutral games between any of the other teams in attendance at this weekend's regional.

Sooner fans of all ages can access the fan fest and take part in the festivities free of charge. Highlights include sponsor giveaways, face painting, interactive inflatables, food vendors and more.

Fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating to watch the games, and are permitted to bringing their own beverages. Tents are prohibited.

Published May 16, 2023

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.