Softball Australia names U-23 Men’s National Team candidates

Softball Australia names U-23 Men’s National Team candidates
14/08/2020
The 30-athlete pool will begin the selection process to represent Australia in the inaugural WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup in 2021.

Softball Australia has named 30 of the nation's top players who are candidates for the first-ever Australian U-23 Men’s National Softball Team, ahead of the inaugural WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup next year.

Layton Reid is one of the biggest names to make the list. He pitched Australia to the U-19 world title in 2018 in Prince Albert, tossing a no-hitter in the final against Japan, and participated in the 2019 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup in Prague, recording a 1.40 ERA in 10 innings pitched.

Among the position players, the roster includes Jett Wright, an infielder who shined in Prince Albert, played in Prague with the senior team last year and also participated in the U-18 Baseball World Cup in 2017; and Jeremy Garland, who starred at the U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup 2020 both as shortstop and pitcher.

The 30-man roster, which may still undergo changes, has 14 players from the 2018 U-19 world championship team, and 11 athletes from the 2020 U-18 team, who lost the World Championship Game against Japan this past February.

Softball Australia will take the nation's top 30 players on a tour to New Zealand from 8-15 March, and following that, the 16-man U-23 National Team roster will be formed.

The first-ever edition of the U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup will be played in Argentina, in the latter half of the year, and will feature the world’s best young softball players from 12 countries.

The full list of the 2020 Australian U-23 men’s national team can be found at Softball Australia’s website.