Ademar Rifaela

Ademar Rifaela (born 20 November 1994) is a Dutch-Curaçaoan former professional baseball outfielder. After spending seven seasons in the Baltimore Orioles' minor leagues system, Rifaela has played in the Mexican League and in winter leagues in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua. He represented the Netherlands at the 2019 and 2023 European Baseball Championships, winning the gold and bronze medals, respectively.

Professional career Baltimore Orioles Rifaela spent seven seasons in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system between 2013 and 2019. He began his professional career in 2013 with the Dominican Summer League Orioles and advanced to the Gulf Coast League Orioles in 2014.

In 2015, he split the season between the Delmarva Shorebirds and the Aberdeen IronBirds, and in 2016 between Delmarva and the Frederick Keys. He spent the entire 2017 season with Frederick, where he was named Carolina League Most Valuable Player.

Rifaela reached Double-A with the Bowie Baysox in 2018 and split the 2019 season between Bowie and the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. He elected free agency after the 2019 season.

Quick Amersfoort On 12 August 2020, Rifaela joined Quick Amersfoort of the Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse.

Sioux City Explorers On 23 March 2022, Rifaela signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He batted .315/.377/.491 with 30 hits, 68 runs and 43 RBIs in 62 appearances. On 27 June 2023, he was traded to the Generales de Durango in exchange for Aneury Tavárez. He finished the season as the league RBI leader with 83 RBI in 90 games, appearing in 54 games for Oaxaca and 36 for Durango.

After appearing in 29 games during the 2024 season, Rifaela was released by the Generales on 3 June 2024.

International career Rifaela represented the Netherlands at the 2019 European Baseball Championship, where he won the gold medal. He appeared in all seven games for the Dutch team, recording 10 runs, 11 hits, one double, six home runs, 17 RBIs and a .407 batting average. He led the tournament in runs, home runs, and RBIs, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship.

In 2023, Rifaela was part of the Dutch team that won the bronze medal at the 2023 European Baseball Championship. He appeared in five games, recording three runs, eight hits, two doubles, one home run and a .333 batting average across 24 at bats.