Weis falls short in record attempt

The sun set in sadness on Andy Weis's hope of writing his name inbaseball's record book, but Weis "would trade it in for a statechampionship any day."

The Aurora Central Catholic star had his hitting streak snappedFriday in a 12-6 victory over Geneva. He went 0-4.

The senior center fielder, who is hitting .493 (35-for-71, 23RBI), was approaching the schoolboy standard of 43 set by Tom Imhoffof Lansing Kee, Iowa, in 1980.

A huge community gathering supported Weis with verbalencouragement as he flied out twice and grounded out twice. Everyonewas aware of the streak, including the umpires who allowed the sixthinning to begin despite the darkening skies and Aurora's six-runlead.

"They knew that Andy was coming up third that inning," saidAurora coach Mark Lindo. "And they knew that Geneva didn't arrive atthe field until 4:20 causing us to start late."

But as Weis bounced to first to end the contest, and the crowdreleased a collective groan, Weis sighed with relief, reasoning thatnow the team can concentrate "on playing team Charger baseball."

"The real thing is to get to Springfield," said Weis, who was 4-for-7 in yesterday's 12-2, 6-1 sweep of Nazareth Academy. "Ithink everyone was talking about my hitting streak and everyone wasforgetting that we were 17-1. Our team's goals have been to win theconference and win the state.

"Those are pretty lofty goals, but I think that we have shownthat we are capable of it."

"I can't say I didn't like it," Weis said. "It was a streak, apersonal thing, but it shows I help the team win. I think I'llappreciate it a lot more in a couple of years."

"He was very aware of the streak and our opponents were veryaware of it," Lindo said. "There was no self-imposed pressure, but Ithink every time he got his first hit of the game, the entire teamsaid: `Now we can get down to business."'

After struggling at the opening of last season, Weis got a buntsingle in the fifth game of the year and hit safely in every gameuntil Friday. He finished last season with a .469 average.

"Last year, I went 0-for-5 and 2-for-10 to open the season, butthen I started to get a hit a game," Weis said. "I started to thinkabout it toward the end of last season. I was really worried aboutit ending right away this year because I'm usually a slow starter."

Despite his size (5-9, 155), Weis has managed to get his shareof extra-base hits.

"He's not a very big person, but he has the ability to hit thegap or put the ball over the fence," Lindo said. "He's really astudent of hitting. He works hard in the off-season and alwaysconcentrates at the plate."

Lindo has penciled Weis in as a leadoff hitter because of hisskills at getting on and running the bases.

"I could probably be described as a gap hitter," Weis said. "Idon't really worry about what type of hitter I am, I just strive tobe consistent.