Souffrant Sounds Off On Success

Name, Age: Anthony Souffrant, 18

Class Year: St. John’s High School (Shrewsbury) ‘11

Team: The Grafton Lake Sox

Sport, Position: Baseball, Centerfield

Why’s Anthony Souffrant the Patch Player of the Week?

Anthony Souffrant was the third captain for Joe Kuras’ Grafton Lake Sox this past season. Though the season didn’t go exactly as planned, Souffrant provided a bright spot for the Lake Sox by playing a lockdown centerfield and hitting a consistent .340 at the plate. He scored seven runs, knocked in four and stole eight-of-ten bases during the season. Souffrant also delivered the game winning hit for the Lake Sox against Southeast on June 19, capping off a 3-for-5 day with 2 RBIs. Souffrant also did well in years past for the Lake Sox, being named an All-Star back in 2009.

Souffrant will go off to MIT next year where he looks to study aerospace engineering with the hopes of becoming an astronaut. He looks to play safety for the Engineers in the fall.

How did the season go for you individually and as a whole?

We have a great team, a lot of time you’ll see in our games we have good pitching and good hitting, but we can’t put it together, so our record didn’t indicate how we did as a program. It’s a rebuilding year and we have a lot of young guys with a lot of talent and I’d like to come back and see them do well next year and the year after.

Personally, I’ve been doing great in the field this year, but at bat I’m still lost, I’ve been lost for years. I’m always a head of the pitch and my swing gets messed up.

What college or professional athlete inspires you and why?

I don’t really have an inspirational athlete so to speak, but I look up to my dad and a lot of my family members. My favorite football player is Darrelle Revis _ I'm a Jets fan _ his work ethic is great, you see him on the field hustling and making plays and that’s exactly what I like to do.

What is your most memorable experience as an athlete so far?

Definitely winning the football championship this year because I was a part of it, you see the clock hit zero and when you’re winning it’s like a sigh of relief. The season’s over and it’s freezing and you’re just enjoying every moment of it.

What are your plans for the future athletically and academically?

I’m going to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to play safety there [for the football team]. I want to major in aerospace engineering and hopefully become an astronaut when I get older. I’ve always been fascinated with space and I see specials on TV all the time and it just always just interested me, so I want to get up there [space].