Troy’s Dixie Belles are ready to shake off the disappointment of last year’s finish in the state tournament.

Troy won just one game as the host team but this is a different group of players.

“I think we have a lot of strengths this year,” head coach Lamar Riley said. “There aren’t too many glaring weaknesses so I think we’ll be OK.”

The team is a fine mixture of solid pitching, rangy defense, power, and speed.

“We’ve got girls who can do different things well,” Riley said.

“We don’t have just one thing that we can do. We can steal when we need to, bunt when we need to and play defense.”

The team has already shown signs of their talent. Troy won the Dixie Belles Warm-Up tournament hosted by Troy Parks and Recreation last weekend.

Troy defeated Enterprise, Eufaula, Ashford and Brundidge with a loss to Geneva sandwiched in between to finish 4-1 in the round robin tournament.

“I thought we played well,” Riley said. “There are some things we need to work on but it was a good sign.”

Troy will travel to Opp for the Sub-District Tournament on Friday where they will play Opp at 6 p.m.

Troy’s Dixie Belles team members are Casey Allen, Kati Thomas, Meredith Motes, Fran Warrick, Sh’ana Lee, Paige Riley, Carmen Kelly, Lakin Turner, Bailey Bennett, Marah-Katelin Paramore, Haley Hughes, and Ashlee Riley. Coaches are Lamar Riley, Jim Kelly, and Mark Turner.