University of St. Francis (III.)

Wherever he has laced up the spikes, Andy Weis has left his mark. It started on April 13, 1985 when the then-junior at Aurora Central Catholic High School embarked on what, at the time, would become an Illinois record 39-game hitting streak carrying through to April 23, 1986. (Note: Nokomis' Mike Havera re-set the record in 1997 with a 43-game streak). Weis continued to hit from there helping land the Chargers, the only Class A school in the poll, a No. 2 ranking in the state at one point during an '86 season in which he authored 11 triples (sixth-most in IHSA history). It also created a spot for him on the all-state team and gave him 16 triples for his two-year varsity career, the eighth-best figure in state history. An outfielder at St. Francis, Weis hit the sixth-most triples for a season (eight) as a sophomore in 1988, yet it wasn't until after that campaign that his bat really exploded. In fact, it started that summer when he was selected to the Central Illinois Collegiate League all-star team over Springfield Rifle teammate Rusty Greer, now a member of the Texas Rangers. That enabled Weis to go head-to-head with a few more familiar major league names in Jeff Bagwell (Houston), Mo Vaughn (Anaheim) and Chuck Knoblauch (Yankees) down in Florida for a series of all-star games. From there, Weis went on to hit .301 as a junior, including .333 during CSF's second-place World Series finish, and .398 in his senior year (seventh-best all-time) when he was chosen for the all-district and all-conference squads. Weis served as part of a formidable four-man hitting crew during that '90 campaign, hitting third in a lineup that featured its first four hitters batting no less than .336. Included in that mix were his younger brother, Nick, and current Class AAA Kansas City Royal product Les Norman, who edged out Andy Weis for the batting crown with his .399 average. Weis, however, won the club races for triples (6) and home runs (9) for that season's World Series third-place finisher. He would close his career as a .318 hitter with his 17 triples placing him in a tie for second on the all-time charts. A 3.36 student who earned his degree in Marketing.