The Grind, Presented by Bank of Clarendon: Lakewood's DeLavan thrives on the mound despite lack of size with help from dad/coach

When opposing batters look up at the mound and see Lakewood pitcher Landon DeLavan, many see a short, skinny pitcher and expect to get an easy base hit.

Many of those who do quickly find their way back to the dugout.

"That drives me. A lot of people have doubts about me because of my size. That makes me want to work harder," Landon said. "Usually when you see me on the mound, you think, 'This kid isn't good,' because of my size. I still have that chip on my shoulder."

Landon's dad and coach, Bill DeLavan, said that fighter's mentality dates back to the beginning.

"He was born 2 pounds and 5 ounces, and he was born six weeks early, so he's been fighting literally since the day he was born," the Lakewood head coach said. "He deals with a lot of stuff, but it never hindered him.

"He was always the smallest, but he was always the fiercest competitor on the field."

BASEBALL BRINGS FAMILY TOGETHER

Landon started playing baseball at the age of 3.

Bill played in college at North Greenville and got into coaching before his playing days were even finished. The elder DeLavan played second base, but Landon is a lefty, so he couldn't follow in his dad's footsteps. Left-handed players never play the infield because of the way they'd need to contort their body to throw to first base.

That's where Landon settled for a while, but first base is typically reserved for taller players.

When he wasn't pitching, he turned his attention to the outfield and started to forge his own path.

"When I was growing up, he tried to force me to be right-handed, but I just wouldn't do it. I guess that was God's way of telling me I was going to be a left-handed pitcher," said Landon, who bats and writes right-handed but has always thrown with his left. "I think it's awesome because it's two different stories. Instead of following his, I get to kind of do my own thing."

Landon started playing competitively in Rec league, as many kids do. He eventually graduated to travel ball. Through each of those stops, Bill led the way.

"I can remember many times when we'd go to Charleston or two-hour trips like Florida or Myrtle Beach, and we'd get all the way there and I forgot something," Landon recalled. "I can remember the look he gave me when I forgot my cleats or something. It was the worst."

There were years that Landon didn't play for his dad, but one player was almost always by his side - his battery-mate Travis Pillsbury. The duo plays together for Lakewood and grew up as pseudo-brothers on the diamond.

"Travis has known how to catch me since I started pitching," Landon said. "He's been through a lot in his life, and I feel like we've always had that brotherhood and that bond. I can talk to him about anything."

THE MOVE TO LAKEWOOD

Bill coached at Thomas Sumter when Landon was in middle school, and the pair was on the path to team up again in high school.

Bill decided to leave the Generals as Landon reached high school, taking the head coaching job at Lakewood. Landon remained behind so he could stay at the same school as his sister, Riley, until she graduated.

Then he reunited with his dad and Pillsbury.

"I figured it would be good to try to have one year without him coaching," Landon said. "It was fun. It has its pros and cons, but seeing him coach over here and coming to these games in ninth grade, I knew immediately I wanted to come here. I felt like everyone was just family already and everyone wanted me to come here."

Landon moved at the most inopportune time. His first season at Lakewood was all but eliminated by COVID-19 in the spring of 2020.

"I felt like we could've made a run that year. That team was very talented," Landon said.

SUMMER WITH THE FLYERS

The high school season wasn't the only thing at risk.

Landon was hoping to play another season of summer ball with the Sumter Junior P-15's, but that went out the window when the American Legion season was canceled.

There was another alternative, though.

Many of the American Legion teams decided to play a season that wasn't sanctioned by the organization. The team that would traditionally be the Junior P-15's became the Sumter Flyers.

Landon suited up for a great summer with the Flyers, as the squad played for the state championship.

"That was the best summer I've ever had," Landon said. "We had a lot of people on that team, a lot of people from different schools. I knew a lot of the people there, but it was awesome to play with those guys. We all had the same jersey on."

REGION CHAMPS

Landon came back to Lakewood for his junior season looking to find success the Gator program hadn't seen in years.

Individually, Landon was spectacular. He finished the season with a 6-0 record and an ERA of 1.19 after allowing just seven earned runs all season. He struck out 57 batters and held opponents to 24 hits and 12 walks. He had a batting average against of .170.

As a team, Lakewood went 15-8 in the regular season, winning the program's first region title since 2005 with an 8-2 record in Region VI-3A.

The seeds for that great season were planted early when the Gators made their annual preseason trip to Tracy's Camp. Add in low expectations from outside the program, and Lakewood had a recipe for success.

"We do a camp where we have team bonding with no phones or anything. I feel like we got a lot closer there. We all understood each other. The closer you are, the better you're going to play," Landon said. "Going into the year, we had talent and we had something to prove. Going into the year, we were projected to be No. 4 in the region. We had nothing to lose."

Landon has spent his entire life proving doubters wrong. He was glad to do it as again last season.

"It was crazy, it was the best feeling," Landon said. "I will always remember that. It was crazy."

Having the chance to do that as father and son was a special moment for the DeLavan family.

"I wanted to do that for him because he's always wanted to do that. He wanted to change the culture at Lakewood, and he's done a great job with that," Landon said of his dad. "He wanted to win region since he got here. I felt like us doing that made everybody happy because we knew how much he wanted it."

Bill said he and Landon will always remember that season.

"It was super special," said Bill, who was also named coach of the year in the region. "In the moment, you don't really have the time because you're so engulfed in trying to get your team ready for the next one, but when the dust settles - I thought about this over the summer - what a blessing it was to be a part of that. It was special for sure. We'll look back on it fondly years from now."

THE SETBACK

That junior season wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Landon.

Late in the year, he started to feel discomfort in his left elbow. For a while, he was able to pitch through it, but Bill could tell something was wrong.

Landon didn't pitch for the last week of the regular season with hopes his elbow would improve. Lakewood had a week off before opening the playoffs against Gilbert, and Bill still held out hope, but Landon's elbow still wasn't ready.

Lakewood lost to Gilbert 11-1 before losing to Aynor in their elimination game the following week 18-2. Without their top pitcher, the Gators ran out of arms.

"As a dad and a coach, that was difficult. His health was paramount," Bill said. "A lot of coaches would run kids out there in those situations with so much at stake in the playoffs. I had to swallow my coaching pride. I knew it was going to be difficult with just one pitcher. And with the playoffs being condensed, we ended up playing the state champion in the first round. It was a tough thing to juggle, but the dad had to win out in that case."

Landon still played the field as the Gators saw their season come to an end, but he couldn't do much.

He later found out he had a partially torn UCL.

"It hurt. I always want to be on the mound in the biggest games, the biggest situations," Landon said. "I just didn't know why my arm was hurting. It was a frustrating feeling.

"I couldn't even throw the ball 60 feet without it killing me. I didn't want to show that, but it was bad. I still ended up playing centerfield, but it was painful."

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

The DeLavans feared Landon would need Tommy John surgery, but doctors said he may be able to avoid surgery with a platelet-rich plasma injection.

"It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. It was terrible," Landon said of the injection. "But I knew if this was going to help my arm get better, I was willing to go through any type of pain."

The PRP injection worked, but Landon needed time to recover. That meant missing out on what would've been his first summer with the P-15's seniors. He wasn't allowed to pick up a baseball all summer, as he spent his time doing rehab over at Apex in Columbia.

"It was frustrating because I wanted to get on the field and play," Landon said. "Watching my guys play, it kind of bothered me in a way."

Landon said the first step to getting back to pitching was hitting the weight room.

He wanted to build up his strength as much as possible before he focused on pitching. He also spent three days a week at Apex working on building strength in his elbow.

"I knew if I was going to pitch like I did last year, I was going to have to get in the weight room and get stronger. I've been in the weight room almost every day. I think it's helped a lot. My arm feels better now. It's not as much wear and tear on your arm if you have more muscle."

Landon has been able to pitch again, but it's not as simple as stepping back on the mound. Every day before practice, Landon does an extra 30-45 minutes of stretching to make sure his elbow is loose and ready for the strain of throwing the ball.

"It helps. I don't ever like to rush so I get out here early and do plyo(metric) balls and band work. It makes me feel better because I prepared well," Landon said. "If it hurts, it isn't because I didn't prepare well."

As a starting pitcher, Landon also had to build up to pitching at a higher volume.

"I didn't know if I was ready going into the scrimmages we've had for the past couple of weeks," Landon said. "I did throw a bunch of bullpens, and it felt great one week, and the next week it didn't feel so good. I was kind of worried. I was also just aggravated because I put in all this work for it to hurt a little bit. That hurt, but I feel good now. I haven't felt pain in a minute. That's good to see."

Bill said it was difficult to balance his duties as a dad and coach through the rehab process.

"We've had some conversations where Mom had to interject. We had some moments where I'm thinking as a coach, 'You should be more or less ready to go according to your rehab schedule,'" Bill said. "The hardest thing about that is figuring out when he has some soreness, balancing if it's normal or if it's something that's going to be a setback and we need to back up. Sometimes I feel like he's gun-shy because he had the injury, and he won't let it go and trust the rehab process. That's been tough."

Landon appreciated having the support of his parents through the process. His mom, Dana, is as supportive of his baseball career as Bill.

"They were always picking me up when I didn't think it was going to work out," Landon said. "I had my doubts and at some points I was like, 'Whatever happens, happens.' But they got me through it. They gave me positivity and so did my friends, which helped me out a lot."

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Last season, Landon had Hunter Hoff with him at the top of the pitching staff. This season, Landon is the undisputed ace.

He's looking forward to another big season as a senior.

"I'm excited. I'm very confident as a pitcher. Every time I'm on the mound, I know we're going to do well," Landon said. "I'm not saying that to be cocky, but I love it. I love the energy and the excitement it gives. I think it's going to be a good year."

The Gators were underdogs last season. Now they go from the hunters to the hunted.

Landon is trying to avoid focusing on outside expectations.

"I told my guys not to get a big head about it. Let's play like we are projected to be fourth in the region," Landon said. "We don't want to say we're going to win the region again because that might stop a lot of us from grinding it out or having that chip on our shoulders."

Landon hopes his senior year at Lakewood isn't his last, but the recruiting process is a challenge for an undersized pitcher who doesn't have a flamethrower for a left arm. As of now, he has junior college offers, like USC Sumter, but he hasn't gotten the attention he'd hope for from larger schools.

"It is frustrating, but I don't let that bother me at all. At the end of the day, God has a plan for me," Landon said. "Whatever college wants me is going to want me. Hopefully I can be an asset to a college program, and I'm going to do what I can to help a college program out."

Bill has a simple message for any college coach who does write his son off based solely on his height and weight.

"I tell college coaches, 'Just watch him pitch. Judge him based on watching him face batters and watching him compete, and it'll be a no-brainer,'" Bill said. "So many college coaches are tied into the measurables, and they don't watch the kids pitch in a competitive environment.

"What makes him good is his mentality. He always does his best in the toughest moments. Many kids would give into those moments. He flourishes in those. I didn't teach him that. He's always been that way."