Souffrant Success Continues On, Off Field

Name, Age: Andre Souffrant, 18

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

Team: The Grafton Lake Sox

Sport, Position: Baseball, Shortstop

Why is Andre Souffrant the Patch Player of the Week?

Andre Souffrant was one of three captains this year for the Grafton Lake Sox Senior Ruth Baseball team. Though the team as a whole had a tough season, going 5-14, Souffrant proved very valuable to the team.

He played solid defensively at shortstop and anywhere else on the diamond he was needed, catching a game, pitching and playing the outfield at times. Souffrant finished up the season with the Lake Sox batting .260, having a tough stretch over his last few games that dropped his average 93 points from a solid .353.

Despite the slump at the end of the season, Souffrant scored seven runs and drove in three, while being a threat on the base paths where he completed six-of-seven steal attempts. Souffrant put up solid numbers last year as well, hitting .469 with seven runs driven in and seven runs scored. He also stole eight bases, helping the team to a 7-9 record.

Souffrant is a good baseball player, but he’s an even better football player and wrestler. Souffrant played defense for the St. John’s Pioneers the last few seasons, helping them to back-to-back Division 1 Super Bowl Championships. He also surprised quite a few wrestling opponents this past post-season in the Division 1, Individual 130lb Weight Class by going all the way to the semi-finals before being eliminated.

Before graduating this past spring, Souffrant was awarded the Pioneer Award for wrestling, an award given to one athlete from each of the varsity sports programs at St. John’s. Though athletics may have taken Souffrant a long way while at St. John’s, his academic achievements may take him even further in life.

Souffrant spent his time off the field hitting the books and it showed, as he achieved Honor Roll status multiple times. He also looks to continue his education at Havard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next year and hopes to eventually become a neurosurgeon based on his current interest in the biology field.

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

We didn’t really hit very well, but we’ve had great pitching from Ray Bell. He gave us great pitching every time, but we never give him any run support. Our defense was a little shaky too, but it’s kind of a rebuilding year because we had a lot of younger players with not a lot of experience, so hopefully in the years to come there will be better teams.

What college or professional athlete inspires you and why?

Derek Jeter. Do you see the number two on my uniform? I want to be Derek Jeter. I was brought up a Yankees fan, and that’s not usual for around here, but he was just always my favorite player. I just like the way he plays, though he hasn’t been doing great this year.

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

It was probably in Little League when I got the game-winning hit in the Championship game. 

What are your plans for the future athletically and academically?

I’m going to Harvard next year and I plan on majoring in biology, pre-med. I liked biology a lot in high school and so I took that for two years. I also want to end up going to med school, so biology is kind of common to take.

Athletically, I’m going to try out for the baseball team and we’ll see where that takes me.