Ahead of the 2023 Men’s Softball Oceania Championship - the regional qualifier for the WBSC Men’s World Cup Group Stage - the Aussie Steelers have named Brendon O’Byrne (Captain) and Scott Patterson (Vice Captain) to their leadership team. The qualifiers will be taking place in American Samoa from the 9^th-11^th of November, with long-time opponents New Zealand, and American Samoa participating. 

Both players were strong contributors to the 2022 WBSC Men’s World Cup winning Steelers team, with O’Byrne (52 caps) named in the All-World team at second base, achieving a batting average of .350. Outfielder Patterson (50 caps) achieved a .259AVG, with a .400AVG in the super round.

The experienced West Australians will be guiding a relatively fresh group in the qualifiers, with many of the World Cup winning team unavailable due to scheduling difficulties. The Steelers will be looking to finish in the top 2 in the Oceania Championships to progress to the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group Stage, to be held in 2024 in Prince Albert, Canada.

O’Byrne expressed his appreciation for the appointment, saying "Anytime you get to pull on the Steelers jersey and represent our country is an absolute privilege, but doing so as our captain in American Samoa is going to be real honour. After our success in Auckland last year I'm really looking forward to working with Laing, Nathan and Scott as we lead the team into the start of this next campaign. The men who have come before have left us a rich cultural legacy which has resulted in success, and this group will be looking to continue that, and get Australia through to the next group stage."

For the full team list head here: News - Softball Australia