Orange's Caden Keed selected for Australian softball under 23s squad

Last week, the Orange-based softballer was selected in the under 23s Australian Men's softball squad and with such good news, he knows exactly when it came through.

"When I was at work, 12 o'clock on Wednesday," he recalled.

To be eligible for selection, Keed competed in a national tournament for both opens and 23s.

A good performance was more than required to impress selectors and Keed showed his class among the country's best.

Despite a quality showing, selection for the 23s shocked him.

"I was pretty surprised, I wasn't expecting it," he said.

"No one was talking about Aussie squads for 23s so when I got the call it was pretty good to learn and find out about it."

With the opens tournament held in March and 23s in April, Keed had plenty of time to assess the main differences between both.

For him, it comes from what's between the ears.

"That was my first tournament for opens, it was a lot harder, in 23s I thought I played alright so hopefully I can get a shot in the team," he said.

"Opens was a lot quicker, a lot harder, there was so many older players and veterans there so everyone had really good experience.

"In 23s there was a few boys that were in open mens Aussie teams, so it was good to play against them."

With New South Wales impressing throughout nationals, Keed will have plenty of familiar faces among his squad with nine selected.

With quality littered across the park, Keed's most excited about being able to rub shoulders with the country's best and at his age he's got plenty of time to learn.

"(I'm excited about playing with) all the Queensland boys, a few are in opens men's Aussie team," he explained.

"Playing with them, knowing I have five more years in this age group makes it really exciting for future years."

Keed wasn't the only player selected from Orange with Jack Besgrove also among the squad.