Rayshelon Carolina

Rayshelon Carolina

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 170 lb.

• School Mars Hill University, Monroe Community College
• High School St. Jozef VSBO

• Born May 24, 1993 in Willemstad Netherlands Antilles

BR register page

Biographical Information

Rayshelon Carolina has played in the independent leagues and the Dutch Hoofdklasse. He has been on the Curaçao national team.

He appeared for Curaçao in the 2006 Little League World Series. Coming to the US for college, he spent two years at Monroe Community College then hit .407/.523/.514 for Mars Hill in 2015 and .366/.452/.497 in 2016. Signed by the independent White Sands Pugfish, the outfielder posted a .315/.429/.415 batting line in 2017. He tied for 10th in the Pecos League in swipes (20 in 24 tries). In the 2019 World Port Tournament, he hit .231/.355/.231 for Curaçao with six runs in seven games; he had a four-RBI game against North America. He tied Riordan Windster for third in wins, tied Raywendley van Gurp and Dwayne Kemp for 5th in RBI (5) and tied for 3rd with 4 walks but led with 3 caught stealing (0 SB) and tied for the lead with two errors.

Signing with the Twins Oosterhout, he hit .190/.388/.190 with 16 walks in 20 games in the 2020 Hoofdklasse while handling 37 chances error-free. He tied for 8th in walks, tied for 3rd in HBP (4) and led with 6 sacrifice hits. He made big strides in 2021 at .308/.468/.406, drawing 37 walks. He was 8th in runs (between former major leaguer Roger Bernadina and Tyriq Kemp), tied Bernadina for the walk lead (37) and tied Gilmer Lampe for 7th in swipes (11). Among those with 100+ AB, only Denzel Richardson and Lampe had better OBPs.

Representing Curaçao in the 2022 Haarlem Baseball Week, he drove in the only run of their 1-0 win over Cuba, plating Johnny Gregorius against Leandro Martínez. Facing the US collegiate stars in the semifinals, he came up big; down 2-1 in the 8th, his single off Joseph Gonzalez scored Windster as his team rallied to beat a squad with several future big leaguers. They lost to the Netherlands in the title game, but he got their only run off Shairon Martis. For the tourney, he hit .263/.364/.316; he tied for second with four runs (one shy of Darren Seferina) and tied for 8th with three walks. In the 2022 Hoofdklasse, he hit .254/.433/.296 in the regular season and tied Jesse Aussems for 3rd with 22 walks but fell to .149/.298/.213 in the next round. In the 2022 Caribbean Baseball Cup, his batting line was .333/.500/.333 and he had 7 walks, 3 steals (not caught) and 5 runs in 7 games, helping Curaçao qualify for the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games. He tied for 9th in runs, tied for 5th in hits, tied for second in walks (one behind Dudley Leonora), tied for second in swipes (behind Kristin Munroe) and trailed only Seferina and Rubén Castro in OBP. He was named one of the event's All-Star outfielders, alongside Miguel Egea and teammate Shean Michel.

In the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, he was the first player to bat for a Curaçao national team in a Central American and Caribbean Games (players from Curaçao had played for the Netherlands Antilles teams in some prior editions of those Games, but this was the first as an independent political entity). He singled off Nelson Alfaro of El Salvador for their historic first hit. He finished the Games 2-for-12 with a walk, a steal and a run. Moving to Neptunus in the 2023 Hoofdklasse, he hit .203/.455/.246 with 25 runs, 27 walks and 12 steals (not caught) in the regular season. He tied Denzel Brooks for 4th in stolen bases, led in walks (two ahead of Roelie Henrique), was second in runs (three behind Delano Selassa) and was among the OBP leaders. He slipped again in the next round, though, at .121/.246/.155 then was 1-for-7 in the playoffs. He was 3-for-20 with a walk in the 2023 Holland Series and was 1-for-2 in steals as Neptunus fell to the Amsterdam Pirates.

He returned to Neptunus in 2024 and batted .288/.413/.364 in the regular season. He tied for 3rd with 11 steals (behind Timothy Rojas and Dwayne Kemp), but didn't slip as much in the second phase (.241/.405/.379). After not playing in the semifinals, he did appear in the 2024 Holland Series.