USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium
Oklahoma battles it out with Oklahoma State in the 2022 Big 12 Championship.
Oklahoma doesn’t have too many claims to fame compared to most other states. It’s a beautiful state, and I love it, but most of what we have to offer can be found elsewhere as well. When it comes to softball, however, there’s only one Oklahoma.
Oklahoma City is the indisputable Mecca of softball as the home of the USA Hall of Fame Stadium & Museum, which has hosted the Women’s College World Series every year since 1990, with one exception, and will continue to host the WCWS through at least 2035.
This incredible complex features three fields, seating for 13,000, world-class press facilities and a carnival-like atmosphere with countless food trucks offering a variety of sweets and savories.
My first trip to what was then known as ASA (Amateur Softball Association) Hall of Fame Stadium came in 2015, when it hosted the OSSAA State Tournament.
That was my first year as a sports journalist, and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I didn’t have an OSSAA playoff pass and nobody had ever heard of my online publication yet. But through sheer confidence I earned my way into the press box to cover the 6A Championship game between Sand Springs and Choctaw.
Our first WCWS game together in 2021.
There I met Barry Lewis and Christian Favalora and enjoyed my first high-end press box experience. I watched my Sand Springs girls battle back from a 4-0 deficit to a heart-breaking 4-3 loss. My story was atrocious. I was 21 years old with zero education, three months of experience, and nothing but a budding passion for my community. It’s crazy now to look back on how far I’ve come.
I returned to the ASA Softball Complex in 2016, when Sand Springs lost in the quarterfinals to Mustang, and in 2017 when we lost to Choctaw in the quarterfinals. The State tournament was moved to Shawnee in 2018 and 2019 due to renovations at Hall of Fame Stadium, and the Sandites haven’t qualified for State since then.
Hall of Fame Stadium during the 2023 WCWS.
I made it back to the venue for the first game of the 2021 Women’s College World Series finals to watch Oklahoma vs. Florida State. It was just a few months after I started dating my now-wife, and we made a day of it - spending time in Bricktown before the game. I also left my debit card at Bourbon Street Café and we had to drive all the way back from Tulsa 24 hours later. How fun.
Oklahoma lost that game 8-4 but won the next two to clinch our fifth National Championship. We didn’t get the win, but we did get to see homers from Kinzie Hansen and Nicole Mendes, as well as Makenzie Donihoo’s diving catch and flip to second for a double play.
That was the first time I had seen the venue since they renovated it and added 4000 additional seats, but no extra parking. Charity and I had to park a quarter-mile down the road in a ditch and walk to the stadium in the grass. It’s mindboggling to me that Oklahoma City hasn’t bothered to build a sidewalk to a major attraction that hosts national events every year.
Although the trek to the stadium was obnoxious, everything inside the complex is top notch from the restrooms to the concessions. The only thing it’s lacking is some televisions in the restrooms and concession areas so you don’t miss the games.
Charity and I made it back to Hall of Fame Stadium twice in 2022 and brought my mom to see the Big 12 Championship between OU and Oklahoma State. We lost that game too, and I was starting to think Charity and I are bad luck. We weren’t too heartbroken about it, though. Charity is an OSU alum, though she mostly supports OU sports. And we had a Sandite on the OSU roster. Before making waves at Oklahoma State, Sydney Pennington was also on that 2015 team that played here for a State title.
The game was a blast, though we all came home with sunburns on our knees. The Sooner fans behind us gave me some sunscreen for the back of my neck and ears, but I didn’t think about my legs. The Sooner fans in front of us shared fans to help combat the sweltering heat. We really do have a world-class fan base.
2022 WCWS.
Top-deck seating for game 1 of the WCWS finals in 2022.
We returned for game 1 of the WCWS finals - a 16-1 beatdown of Texas that featured two homers apiece from Tiare Jennings and Jocelyn Alo (who we later named our cat after).
2023 WCWS.
Then, in 2023, we made it back for game two of the WCW finals to see Oklahoma win its third consecutive national title, 3-1 over Florida State. It was the 53rd consecutive win for my Sooners.
This time we sat in the cramped outfield bleachers, which didn’t give us much leg room, but they did give us great vantage points for Jayda Coleman’s incredible steal of a would-be three-run homer over the center field wall and of Grace Lyons’s go-ahead dinger to left field.
Afterwards it felt like getting out of the parking lot at Remington Park took longer than the game itself. OKC really needs to figure out its event traffic/parking issues.
USA Softball Hall of Fame Museum
In addition to the incredible stadium, there’s also a fun, free museum to entertain yourself with while you wait for the stadium to open.
I was surprised to learn that softball wasn’t always a predominantly female sport, and in fact a significant number of the Hall of Fame inductees are men. Of course I’m well aware that men play softball, but in my experience it’s always been slow pitch adult leagues for people well past their athletic prime. I had no idea that men’s competitive fast pitch used to be so popular, or that it’s still, in fact, a sport to this day.
I’m not a huge fan of museums. I love history, but museums have always felt too sterile and lifeless. If I’m not fascinated with the subject, I’d rather listen to a podcast about it while working than spend an entire afternoon reading on my feet when I could be doing something else.
But as museums go, this was a fine one. I, of course, enjoyed the Oklahoma Sooner features. Hopefully they’ll grow larger as the years go on.
My Sooners will of course be returning to USA Stadium in 2024 to pursue a fourth consecutive national title, and I’m really hoping for a Bedlam rematch in the finals.
I can definitely say a WCWS trip should be on the bucket list of every Okie and every sports fan worldwide. I’ll be looking forward to many more trips to Hall of Fame Field for many years to come.
