2023 will serve as a swan song for BT Riopelle
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — While most of the Florida Gators went north for summer baseball leagues, senior catcher BT Riopelle went South to Tampa. He traded in his spikes for dress shoes and his catching equipment for a suit, interning at a financial firm.
This will be Riopelle’s last season playing baseball.
“Honestly, I think the next level was kind of out of the picture for me,” Riopelle said Monday. “That’s predominantly why I came back. I want to solidify myself as a really good college player and achieve something that I hadn’t achieved before — win a championship.”
Trailing Oklahoma 5-4 in the Gainesville Regional, Riopelle struck out to end the game and the Gators’ season. Riopelle stopped Kevin O’Sullivan on his way to post-game media and told the coach, “next year starts tomorrow.”
Riopelle comes from a military family. He’s the only male in his family that didn’t serve in the military, getting that structure and camaraderie on the diamond instead.
“It helped me a lot. You know, from that aspect of leadership, it’s life or death. Baseball is a very minute thing in this world, but when you consider life or death, leadership and believing in one another on your team is very, very very important. So that really helped me transition into a leader on the baseball field, for sure.”
It didn’t take long for Riopelle, who transferred to Florida from Coastal Carolina prior to he 2022 season, to earn his stripes. He’s been a leader on and off the field. When the season started, playing against the best competition of his career, he put together his best season. Riopelle slashed .304/.371/.551. and his 15 home runs trailed only Wyatt Langford and Jud Fabian. He set career highs in average, hits, home runs, and RBI.
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Riopelle, Gators on a mission
The Gators went to Omaha in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. But they haven’t made it out of the Regional round since 2018.
At the University of Florida the expectation every year is to end your season in Omaha. With this being Riopelle’s last year he’s focusing on doing something he hasn’t in college, win a championship. That starts with the SEC.
“Of course, we want to get back to Omaha and yes we haven’t been there since ’18 and no one wants that as more as our players or this staff,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We are a bit older but at the same time, we’ve got to guard against the expectations. I’ve been there before. I’ve had good teams and I know that doesn’t guarantee you anything. You’ve still got to work hard and you’ve still got to play well at the right time, you’ve got to stay healthy so it’s our job as coaches, and everybody, the whole staff to keep in mind that we’ve got the keep the expectations and noise out and we’ve got to stay focused.”
Riopelle is preparing to go pro in something other than baseball. He takes his SEI (Securities Industry Essentials) exam on February 7. That makes this season, his last chance to play a kid’s game. The last chance for the super senior to share a clubhouse with his teammates. And there’s only one way he wants this chapter of his life to end.
In Omaha.
