DEL MAR -- Allison Melton says she gave up softball and waving at pitches with an aluminum bat to swing some real wood -- a lightweight, easy-to-grip handle with some serious steel attached -- a 6-pound, razor-sharp ax head.

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Melton and three other women (plus two alternates) form the Lumberjills, a group of gals performing three free shows daily in the Infield section of the San Diego County Fair. Also known as "Chics with Axes," these ladies have no issues with competing in a male-dominated sport at some of the biggest lumberjack shows in the world.

"I played softball during my high school years, but I wasn't ever really into it," said Melton, 24, who now calls Bangor, Maine, her home.

"Then when I went to college I got into woodsmanship, and I was hooked," she said. "It's the neatest sport -- very nontraditional -- but very cool. It's as popular a sport back in Maine as golf and tennis are out here in the West."

The Lumberjills was started by Tina Scheer, a former contestant on "Survivor -- Exile Island" and a longtime participant in women's lumberjack competitions in the Northeast.

"Tina didn't last very long on Survivor, they voted her off the first week," says her niece Carly Scheer.

One of the four women in Del Mar this week, Scheer's specialty is log rolling.

"The other contestants were so afraid of her, they knew she would win the whole thing, and she would have, if the show was truly based on being a survivor and not some popularity contest," Scheer said.

At old Del Mar, the Lumberjills compete against each other in five events, underhand chopping, hot sawing (done with modified chain saws), cross-cut sawing, log rolling and ax throwing. Melton, a hotshot with the hot saw, serves as the team's chainsaw wood-carving artist.

Team leader Andrea Robarge, who appeared in a recent episode of the TV show "Wife Swap," has spent 15 years traveling worldwide to compete in lumberjack shows. On Tuesday, she won the ax-throwing contest in overtime against Melton.

"This sport has given me the opportunity to visit a lot of different countries over the years," said Robarge, who, at 38, is the eldest of the current team members.

"I've been to Australia, New Zealand and France and the best part about it is that I get to do something that I love," Robarge said. "You can't beat that."

Patty Marcum, a 24-year-old former college woodsmanship competitor from New Hampshire, said she hopes fair visitors take in one of the Jills' shows and experience for themselves how skilled the women are at lumberjacking.

"We're all very serious about what we do here, and we take a lot of pride in what we do at these exhibitions," Marcum said.

"We take a lot of precautions so nobody gets hurt -- the worst injury we've ever had is a couple of bruises -- and it's really good entertainment for the whole family," she said.

"The other thing we want to show our audiences is that we're all still women, and our husbands and boyfriends support us in doing this," Marcum said.

"We know we are doing things here that are mostly done by men, but we want to show people that we can do these things too, and do it well, and we can still be women."