Ramstein pitcher Kelsey Moya winds up to deliver a pitch Thursday, May 22, 2025 at the DODEA-Europe Division I softball championships on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

A couple weeks into the softball season, Kelsey Moya and her father Storm showed up at a Ramstein practice to watch.

The day before, the two, along with her mother Chandra and the rest of the Moya family, moved from Panama City, Fla., to the Pfalz region of Germany. Kelsey Moya wasn’t eligible to practice, but even showing up left an impression with Royal coach Kent Enyeart.

“My first impression was dedication,” Enyeart said. “She showed up with her stuff the day after she gets here, comes to practice even though she couldn’t (practice) until she got into the school and got into the system. That was pretty impressive.”

Enyeart wasn’t the last person left impressed this season, as the sophomore and the Royals dominated the DODEA European softball scene.

Once she could play, Moya stepped into the circle as Ramstein’s ace, striking out 98 batters in 59 innings. She allowed just 10 earned runs all season, and opposing batters hit .187 against her.

Her performances helped the Royals (18-0) to a three-peat in Division I last month at Kaiserslautern High School. The tournament’s MVP also earned Stars and Stripes’ 2025 European softball Athlete of the Year.

Moya had mixed thoughts when she first moved to the Kaiserslautern Military Community. The move, which had been in the works since last summer but kept getting delayed, forced her to leave her team in Florida midseason.

She just wanted to make sure she still could play.

“I would have been grateful to join any softball team,” said Moya, who has played the sport for seven years and had a couple years of travel-ball experience in the States under her belt. “So, I’m very glad I got to come and join halfway through the season and be welcomed in.”

The team’s camaraderie was evident to Moya from the start. She said that helped her adjust to life in Europe quickly with long bus rides to play doubleheaders. One of those trips was 523 miles one way to Vicenza, which went on to win the Division II/III championship.

She couldn’t have been happier the family concept that the Royals promote welcomed her with open arms.

“Everybody was very happy,” Moya said. “Everybody introduced themselves, and they all reached out asking if I needed a ride home, being very friendly.

“I’ve been on teams with drama that tore the team apart. It’s a big change because they understand what you’re going through with moving.”

The Royals entered the 2025 campaign needing to replace Stars and Stripes’ 2024 softball Player of the Year Maddie Mihalic. Enyeart said three athletes worked over the offseason to fill the void, with seniors Arianna Chambers and Aspen Lindsey getting starts before spring break.

Moya taking over as the ace allowed the others to go to their more natural positions, although Chambers pitched the second game of doubleheaders with Moya going to shortstop.

The Ramstein coach praised Moya for adapting to whatever the staff asked of her. One example came when they tried to see if the righty could become a switch hitter. Moya gave it a try, and even though she didn’t do it often, Enyeart said she did well on the left side of the plate.

“She’s willing to do whatever it takes to make the team better,” Enyeart said. “Every time I asked her to change something, that’s what she did. She tried it. If it didn’t work, we went to something else. But she was always up for change.”

Come tournament time, it was business as usual for the Royals, with Moya spearheading the effort.

Ramstein defeated its four opponents by an average of 14.75 runs. The Royals allowed just three runs and recorded two shutouts in the knockout rounds.

That included a 10-0 victory over crosstown rival Kaiserslautern in the final. Moya produced a no-hitter, fanning nine Raiders and allowing only two to reach base safely.

“I had no intel on how they would hit or how they would pitch because I didn’t play a game with (Kaiserslautern) previous to Euros,” said Moya, who called her changeup – 15-20 mph slower than her fastball – as her best pitch. “It was fun to experience a new team to see if they could catch on to the different movements of my pitches.”

After a spring of great change, Moya’s will soon be facing another one.

Ramstein started eight seniors in the championship game, and the program’s head coach is retiring. Moya will step into a leadership role, one she said she’s ready to embrace.

Meanwhile, the sophomore also mentioned wanting to play collegiate softball. To do so, she said she’s going to have improve on all aspects of her game.

Her current coach, who has mentored numerous athletes who have played at the next level, has no doubt she will suit up for a college in a couple years’ time.

“There’s things she’s got to work on,” Enyeart said. “If she gets that right training and stays as motivated as she is, I can see her playing at the next level.”