The words “spring break” usually conjure up thoughts of vacations, late mornings and wild parties.

For Warren County’s baseball players, all the term means is longer bus trips, tough games, and more hard work.

All four local schools will have a full slate of games this week while their classmates are out of school. Vicksburg and Warren Central will play in the Ouachita Tournament in Monroe, La., while St. Aloysius faces a tough division game against archrival Cathedral. Porters Chapel will play a tournament at Copiah and make up a rainout or two.

“It’s staying on top of your game,” Warren Central coach Randy Broome said. “We’ve got a spot here where right after spring break we don’t play until that next Friday against Oak Grove. Your biggest fear is you’re coming off that rocking and rolling and then you take a week off. How is that going to hurt you?”

Vicksburg opened the week today at Franklin County, while WC hosts Pearl on Tuesday. The two Warren County teams will then head west to take on some of the best Louisiana has to offer, including Barbe, Dutchtown and West Monroe.

Barbe (11-1) is ranked No. 2 in the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association Class 5A poll, while West Monroe (6-6) is No. 7. Dutchtown (3-7) is No. 7 in the Class 4A poll.

“We’re looking at some tough ones. This is why you play the game right here,” VHS coach Jamie Creel said.

The Ouachita Tournament begins a tough stretch for both Vicksburg and Warren Central.

The week after spring break, Vicksburg will play at Northwest Rankin while Warren Central travels to Oak Grove. It all comes to a head on March 29, when the Vikings and Gators play at WC in the first of two division meetings this season.

“You’re looking at a stretch here, these next two weeks is going to be some big-time baseball,” Broome said.

The big games for St. Al come this week. The Flashes host Natchez High tonight, then head to Natchez on Wednesday for a key Division 7-1A game against defending Class 1A champion Cathedral. St. Al wraps up the week by hosting Crystal Springs on Friday and then playing at Madison-St. Joe on Saturday.

St. Al has won four of its last five heading into tonight’s game, including three straight division games, and a win over Cathedral will go a long way toward claiming a playoff spot.

“I think the winner of that is going to win it all,” St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson said. “Cathedral is loaded with talent and older, but we’re young and really don’t care. We’re playing well.”

The biggest challenge for PCA this week is simply playing as many games as it can.

PCA has had six games rained out and has played only five games in the first three weeks of the season. The Eagles will play ACCS and Copiah today in the Copiah tournament, then host Wayne on Thursday and play at Bayou Academy on Friday.

PCA coach Randy Wright was also trying to reschedule one of the rainouts for Wednesday.

“We need to play as many games as we can because we’re young. And the more we play, the better we’re going to get,” Wright said.