▶️ Wheels up! Bend North softball departs for Little League World Series

May 04, 2024

Bend North Softball left for Greenville, North Carolina on Wednesday morning, where the team will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in the Little League World Series.

“I’m super excited of course, but also kind of nervous,” Bend North player Ruby Mottern said. “I was looking at the teams earlier and most of them are undefeated or returning, and we’re the first ever Bend team to make it passed districts.”

Teammates, families and friends met in the parking lot of Sky View Middle School, where the team was sent off to play on the world stage.

“Every girl on the team has played a vital role,” Assistant Coach Mike Huff said. “Obviously, Janelle is our pitcher and she’s as solid as they come at this level. Up and down the lineup from our state run to our district run to the regional run, each girl has had to step up in key moments throughout. Just the fact that they can play together and have spent the time, which has been awhile, to have put in the work for this.”

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Of course, it doesn’t hurt to wear your lucky pairs of crocs.

“I thought it would be cool if we all got matching crocs. We kind of had a hard time deciding what color to get. We decided to get red white and blue to match our jerseys,” said player Paige Hall.

The team has a seven hour layover in Seattle. They say they plan to go see “Barbie” to kill the time.

They are expected to arrive in North Carolina around 6 a.m. EDT on Thursday. They will have until Monday to acclimate before they play in their first game at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time against either Latin America or Canada.