CENTER TWP — Just call them “The Little Engine That Could.”

Despite limited numbers to choose from, Center Township’s 10-year-old all-star baseball team has reached the PONY Mustang Zone Tournament in Chesterfield, Va.

CT will join host Chesterfield, West Raleigh (N.C.) and Swansea (Mass.) in a double-elimination tournament beginning Thursday for a berth in the World Series next weekend in Texas.

“It’s a big accomplishment that we’ve gotten this far because our 11 players are all from our township,” CT manager Geoff Patterson said. “We only had 24 10-year-olds in our league to choose from.

“By comparison, Morgantown (W.Va.) had 200 players to select its team from.”

Center Township defeated Morgantown twice — 7-6 and 19-5 in the title game — to win the nine-team super regional in Charleroi. CT also defeated Lewis County (W.Va.) 13-3 and Upshur (W.Va.) 14-4 in that tournament.

“The host team in the Zone Tournament has 54 teams in its league, more than 500 players to pick from. That’s what we’re up against,” Patterson said.

“But we feel good about our team. We’ve got some talented boys.”

Patterson said hitting is the strength of his squad. Colin Patterson, a pitcher-catcher-first baseman, is batting over .500 and has not struck out in 51 all-star at bats. Pitcher-shortstop-catcher Cooper Baxter is also hitting over .500.

Pitcher-shortstop Nick Delano, second baseman-pitcher Carson Knight, third baseman-first baseman Brady Gavula and outfielder-third baseman Hayden Thompson are all hitting over .400.

Four other players — Ryan Wick, Jacob Pomykata, Danny Voelker and Collin Gahagan — are hitting above .300 and left fielder Charlie Kreinbucher isn’t far from that figure.

“All of these kids can hit,” Patterson said.

Every player on the team is entering fifth grade at Center Township Elementary with the exception of Voelker, who attends Butler Catholic.

Center Township’s overall won-loss record this season is 19-3. The team has won four of the five tournaments it’s played in, finishing second at the McCandless Tournament.

Assistant coaches are Jay Baxter and Chris Knight.

“We’ve been coaching these kids since they were six,” Patterson said. “We coaches all played high school, some college ball, and we feel like we’ve taught them to play the game the right way.

“They’re very talented kids, too. That always helps.”