The Ramstein Royals celebrate winning the DODEA European Division I baseball championship Friday, May 24, 2024, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Friday could have been just a footnote in the seemingly endless saga of Ramstein and Stuttgart battling for the DODEA European Division I baseball championship.

Instead, it might merit its own chapter.

Ramstein sophomore Jaxon Lundell hit a two-run home run – the first time he’s hit the ball over the fence in high school – in the eighth inning as the Royals topped the Panthers 7-5.

Lundell said he was “trying to get on base, trying to get the runner we had to score. I knew it was a good hit, but I didn’t know how far it was going to go.

“I didn’t have a home run trot. I was just sprinting around the bases I was so excited.”

His Ramstein teammates mobbed him at home plate, very reminiscent of a similar scene a few innings earlier.

That’s when Stuttgart’s Jackson Boggs hit a three-run homer in the sixth to tie the score at 4-4.

Neither team could score after that, though, sending the game into extra innings. A runner is placed on second to start the inning and Caden Nims eventually scored on a wild pitch. Luke Seaburgh then was hit by a pitch before Lundell parked the ball over the left field fence.

Boggs drove in the Panthers designated runner with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, but Conor McGinty got two popups – one to the infield and one to the outfield – to end the game.

The Royals had taken a 4-0 lead through five innings thanks to a series of Stuttgart errors and the pitching of junior Christian Roy, who kept the Panthers off the scoreboard.

Boggs managed to escape the first two innings by leaving Ramstein runners on third base. But after the bases were loaded in the third, two runs came across the plate when an attempt to force the lead runner at home sailed well over catcher Tyler Blalock’s head. Ramstein added two more runs in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and Roy’s RBI single.

Ramstein's Christian Roy dives back into first before a pickoff throw can reach Stuttgart first baseman Jaxin Schnieders at the DODEA European Division I championship game Friday, May 24, 2024, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Stuttgart catcher Tyler Blalock jumped as high as he could, but he couldn't come down with an errant throw that led to two runs scoring at the DODEA European Division I championship game Friday, May 24, 2024, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Christian Roy was "huge" for the Ramstein Royals at the DODEA European Division I championship game, according to his coach. The junior shut out Stuttgart for five innings Friday, May 24, 2024 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Who is that masked man? It's Stuttgart pitcher Jackson Boggs, who started for the Panthers in the DODEA European Division I championship game and also drove in four runs Friday, May 24, 2024, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein shortstop Luke Seaburgh flips the ball to second baseman Liam Delp to try to start a double play Friday, May 24, 2024, at the DODEA European Division I championship game at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein's Christian Roy drills a single to center field Friday, May 24, 2024 at the DODEA European Division I baseball championship game at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

The Stuttgart Panthers get set to mob Jackson Boggs after he tied DODEA European Division I championship game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Ramstein went on to win the game Friday, May 24, 2024, in eight innings. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Roy pitched out of a few jams until being pulled in the sixth due to nearing the DODEA pitch count. He credited his performance with the success of his slurve, one of four pitches in his repertoire.

“I knew I was going to need it,” he said. “They’re a tough team to pitch against and you can’t just have a fastball against them.”

“Christian has great control,” said Lundell, who caught the entire game for the Royals. “[The slurve] is slower than his fastball, but not by very much.”

The Panthers finally started to get to Roy in the sixth, with a single from David Scudder, Ryan Santana getting hit by a pitch and a single from Hayden Foley that was misplayed in the outfield, plating their first run. McGinty then replaced Roy and Boggs greeted him with a home run over the right-center fence.

Stuttgart coach Drake Marbury said too many errors early and an inability to cross the plate against Roy doomed his team.

“We made too many mistakes and didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” he said. “But give (Ramstein) credit. They deserve it.”