Defense will be the key for the Greenville Dixie Debs AllnStars this weekend.

The district softball champs will travel to Enterprise Saturday to compete in the state tournament. Head coach Steve Newton said his team's topnnotch defensive play could help lead his team to the championship.

"We can play defense with them, there's no doubt," Newton said. "I'm sure we've got just as good a defense as any of them. It could be with the pitching. We don't see all that good of pitching around here."

The Dixie Debs will begin the tournament at 9 a.m. against Trussville. If they win, they will play last year's state runnernup Enterprise at 6 p.m. Last year, Greenville competed against Enterprise in the district tournament and Newton said it was evident that the level of competition was greater.

"We're going to try to survive," Newton said. "That's the biggest thing. The girls that we're going to play are really out of our league. We're just going to try to get in there and hang with them. Anything can happen. Any team can be beaten on any given day and hopefully we've got what it takes to at least survive through a few of these games.

Defending state champ Sand Mountain also will be competing in the tournament.

Newton said if his team can get some key hits; team speed also will play a big factor.

"We've got some speed," Newton said. "If we get on, we can do something once we get there."