Jake Riopel pitched and played shortstop and second base in ten Warren/Bristol Little World Series between 1924 and 1937.  In 1924 co-managers Eddie and Jigger Higgins had used mostly major and minor leaguers in taking a 2-1 Series lead, but in the final game, they unveiled a new battery of Riopel and National Baseball Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett.  Jake went two for four while pitching a complete game 8-3 victory.

He hit .600 in 1928, batted .375 and was the winning pitcher in the final game of the 1930 Series, and was again the victorious hurler in the 1934 Series finale.

Jake pitched for the Warren Twilight League Champions Independents in 1923, 1924, and 1925.  (In 1926 a cub reporter for the Gazette reported that they had won again, but, in fact, they had only won the first game of the final series; they lost the final two tilts and, with them, their crown.)  A decade later he was named to the League’s All Star teams of 1933 and 1934 and then played shortstop for the Champions Narries in 1935.

He also played for the Providence Amateur League 1925 Champions ICI, the Local 1543 Textile Workers, the Bristol Twilight League Tigers and Battery C (for whom he pitched a no-hitter), the Fall River City League Bailey’s, the Warren Town Team of 1932 and 1933, and Lefty Greenwood’s French All Stars.

Pictures from Hall of Fame archives