REDMOND — If any of the young players on the Bend North Little League softball team hadn’t realized the magnitude of their journey, the drive to Redmond Airport surely cleared that up Wednesday, Aug. 2, with the caravan of 11 cars and vans and the escort of police cruisers and fire engines, their sirens wailing.

They were off to the 2023 Little League Softball World Series in Greenville, North Carolina, on the biggest stage for their sport. It comes with a worldwide audience tuning into ESPN. Even the weather was proud: A full day of traveling started at Sky View Middle School in Bend under a sunny, blue Central Oregon sky.

“I’m superexcited,” said Jocelyn Lima, who plays first base. “We are traveling such a far way. It is crazy to think that this all started as just a normal Little League season. Now we are going to the World Series.”

While the team’s summer may have been routine at the start, Bend North has pushed itself further up the Little League Softball mountain than any team in Central Oregon’s history, by winning district, state and regional titles through the course of the summer to make it to the 12-team tournament with players from Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

“The fact that there’s 12 Little League teams left in the world and we’re one of them, it’s just cool to see,” said Mike Huff, assistant coach of the team of 11-, 12- and 13-year-old girls.

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Not bad for a team that had only hoped to maybe win a district title and maybe qualify for the state tournament.

But Bend North won state in Portland, then traveled down to San Bernardino, California, for the Northwest Regional tournament. They won that, too.

“We didn’t even think we were going to win districts. We definitely didn’t think that we were going to win state,” said pitcher Janelle Guiney. “It is pretty cool that we are going this far.”

Added catcher Jessie Berry: “I’m still pretty speechless that we won state and regionals.”

Bend North plays its first game on Monday, taking on the winner of Sunday’s game between Guayama Softball Little League, of Puerto Rico, and St. Albert Softball Little League, of Alberta, Canada.

Wednesday’s journey included a seven-hour layover in Seattle before the team reached Raleigh, North Carolina. Then they’ll be driven early Thursday morning to East Carolina University, where they’ll stay in dorm rooms. The rest of the parents and family members will follow at their own pace over the next few days.

The girls had a solid plan for the movies they hoped to watch on the flight.

“We’re going Taylor Swift on this one, so I bought some friendship bracelets,” said Jody Mottern, team mom and player advocate , referring to the recent tradition Swift fans began in crafting bracelets to wear to her Eras Tour.

“We’ve got a long layover, but I figured that would be fun,” she said. “They can make them and give them out.”

The team had its last practice in Stover Park on Monday, a bittersweet moment in which the girls, who have spent the entire year playing and competing alongside one another, realized they would never prepare for a game together in Bend again.

“Two weeks after we get back, they start school,” said Bend North coach Kevin Guiney. “But I wouldn’t want to spend my summer any other way.”

Though the girls were initially nervous about being featured on ESPN during regionals, Mottern said they’ve grown comfortable and excited with the increased media coverage.

“It’s just amazing to see your kids get to experience this thing that’s once in a lifetime,” Mottern said. “There are parents that would pay bazillions of dollars to put their kids in this position, and we’re just this small community of teachers and middle-of-the-road workers that can barely pay for our own trips. We’ve all really become such a family.”

Huff, a team coach who has coached Little League for six years, said the experience has been overwhelming, but in a good way. His daughter, Kennedy, is one of the Bend North girls headed to the World Series.

Little League International has organized a few player parties where the Bend North girls can meet professional softball players, in addition to other welcome events to make them feel more at home.

“I’m looking forward to meeting other girls from across the world,” Lima said. “Especially doing all of this as a team sounds like a great experience. We just want to keep playing together.”

After the World Series, about half of the team will age out of Little League and head to Mountain View High School.

No matter the outcome of the tournament, this experience has created lifelong friendships, Mottern said.

“It’s those bigger lessons about teamwork and learning to rely on each other and lift each other up and bounce back when things don’t go your way — those are the things to me that are far more important,” Mottern said. “Right now, we’ve won. It makes no difference how we perform there. Those experiences that you get by being there, that’s winning.”