LOS ANGELES -- Two days ago, UCLA coach Jim Mora broke what he called the Cardinal Rule of coaching.

"Only time I've ever done it," he said. "I brought my phone onto the field for like the first 20 minutes of practice."

While the Bruins stretched, he was fixated on streaming coverage of a Little League baseball game being played about 80 miles to the east. Bend North Little League, the Oregon state champion, was in a pivotal game in the regional tournament against Alaska. Mora's brother, Steve, is the manager and his nephew, Julian, is the team's leadoff hitter.

"Then when we started, I had to put [the phone] away and it killed me for two hours," Mora said.

When practice was over, good news was waiting. Bend North beat Alaska 6-2 and followed it up with a 15-0 win against Montana on Wednesday to pull within two wins of a trip to the Little League World Series.

"They lost to Team Washington in the first game and then played the next morning, seven hours later. First pitch [Julian] hit one out for a home run, so I was proud of him," Mora said.

If not for a scheduling change compared to years past, Mora probably would have been able to attend some of the games in person. The tournament takes place a few miles from Cal State-San Bernardino, where the Bruins have traditionally opened training camp. This year, UCLA elected to have its first week of practice on campus and will spend next week in San Bernardino.

Bend North is in the regional semifinal at 12 p.m. PT Friday. The game will be televised on ESPN.