CENTER TWP — Their numbers aren’t plentiful — just powerful.

Center Township’s 11-year-old Bronco team qualified for the East Zone Championship, which takes place this weekend at Cranberry Community Park.

CT won its West Region title — covering Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia — by winning the region’s double-elimination tournament in McCandless.

“We only have 24 kids to draw from to form our team, so roughly half of them make it,” coach Geoff Patterson said. “By comparison, we beat a team from Harris County in West Virginia that covers that entire county. We beat a team from Morgantown, too.

“We just started this team last year and the same kids came back this season. Last year’s experience has definitely helped us.”

Center Township is 18-2 this year. The team reached the semifinals of a 20-team tournament in Orchard Park, N.Y. It won a local tournament in East Butler before winning the region.

Last year, CT was eliminated after three games in the Mustang Zone Tournament in Chesterfield, Va. A win over Swansea, Mass., was sandwiched by two losses to West Raleigh, N.C.

“I feel like we’re equipped to go farther this time,” Patterson said. “We played against better competition and we moved the bases at our (Center Township) field to 70 feet apart rather than 60 feet.

“Seventy feet is PONY regulation, so our kids are used to that now.”

Center Township’s roster consists of second baseman-outfielder Carson Knight, shortstop Cooper Baxter, catchers Colin Patterson and Jacob Pomykata, third baseman-first-baseman Brady Gavula, first baseman Ryan Wick, outfielders Hayden Thompson, Danny Voelker and Collin Gahagan, and versatile Noah Delano “who can play just about anywhere,” Patterson said.

Virtually everyone on the team is hitting above .350 and some are above .500.

“Our top pitchers are Colin Patterson, Cooper Baxter and Noah Delano,” Patterson said. “But I’ve got nine guys who can throw strikes if I need them. That comes in handy in double-elimination tournaments.”

Center Township received a bye in the five-team East Zone tourney and will play the winner of Greene County (south of Albany, NY) and Western Branch, Va., at 10 a.m. Saturday.

McCandless — the second-place team from the West region — and host Cranberry are the other teams in the East Zone tourney.

The championship game is at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Winner of the tournament advances to the Bronco-11 World Series, a 10-team event in Chesterfield, Va., next weekend.