Eric Reed / For The BulletinBend Northís Manager Dan Ruhl celebrates the teams win over Alaska on Thursday in San Bernardino, California. Bend North takes on Washington in todayís Little League Northwest Regional final.

This is the rematch Bend North has been anticipating for the past eight days.

The 11- and 12-year-old baseball all-stars from Central Oregon and Oregon state champions play Pacific Little League of Lynnwood, Washington, today in the championship game of the 2014 Little League Northwest Regional tournament. Pacific, which has yet to lose in the regional tournament, topped Bend North 10-2 on Aug. 1. The winner of today’s championship final earns one of eight American berths to the Little League World Series, which starts Thursday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

“We’re excited, man,” said Bend North manager Dan Ruhl, whose squad defeated Eagle River (Alaska) 7-6 on Thursday in the tournament’s semifinal round. “Every kid on this team wants another shot at Washington.”

Today’s game is set to start at 1 p.m. at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, California. It will be televised live by ESPN.

Bend has been a different squad since losing to Washington in its first game of the tournament. Ruhl’s team outscored its next four opponents 37-13 to advance to the regional final.

A win this afternoon would be historic for the boys from Bend. No Central Oregon team has ever advanced past regional play — Bend North is just the third team from the region to play beyond state competition — and only four Oregon teams ever have earned a spot in the Little League World Series, which has been staged each year since 1947.

“We’re just trying to stay relaxed,” Ruhl said Friday on his team’s off day. “And that comes from the coaches. The kids are going to emulate how we react.”

In the first game between the Oregon and Washington state champions, Bend North grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning before Pacific scored four runs in the top of the second. Washington added a run in the fourth before blowing the game open with a five-run sixth inning.

“Our message to our kids is that this is just another game away from home,” said Ruhl, referring to the fact that his team won district and state titles on the road. “We’re keeping things very light. We don’t see the kids thinking (the championship game) is too big for them at all.

“We’re feeling really good about our chances,” he added. “Our message is we’re just one game away (from Williamsport). Yesterday we were two. (Today) is no bigger than any other game.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0305; beastes@bendbulletin.com.