Landon Davis is a Bulldog in Every Sense of the Word
This is the continuation of a series of Body, Mind & Soul stories that highlights member student-athletes, coaches and administrators of Conference Carolinas.
WILSON, N.C. - When Barton College hired Keith Gorman last year as its next head baseball coach, the school knew it had found a winner.
The 2019 National Coach of the Year at Cumberland County (N.J.) Community College, Gorman had carved out a winning percentage of .776 during his eight seasons on the junior college level, including unworldly records of 47-5 in 2019 and 55-8 in 2017.
He welcomed back a near-full roster of quality players in his first year at Barton in 2020, a group that had posted a 31-20 overall mark and a second-place finish in Conference Carolinas the previous season. Yet, Gorman was soon to discover that the most valuable team member he inherited was a young man who had never pitched an inning or taken an at-bat for the Barton Bulldogs.
His name was Landon Davis, a 10-year-old boy whose undying spirit and never-give-up attitude has created a unique team chemistry for one of NCAA Division II’s best baseball programs.
Unlike other kids his age, Landon is not allowed to play sports. He was diagnosed a week after birth with Hemophilia A Inhibitor, a rare medical condition in which the ability of the blood to clot is severely reduced.
Then at the age of two, it was discovered he also suffered from Coarctation of Aorta Heart, a hereditary congenital heart disease in children where a portion of the aorta is too narrow and results in insufficient blood flow to the lower body.
As one would imagine, the news of his two maladies were a double punch to the gut for his parents and Landon.
“When we also learned of Landon’s heart condition, that just did us in,” said his mother, Ashley. “I remember being at the hospital and watching the reaction of the nurses when they ran tests. They didn’t say much but you could just tell it was bad news. My husband (Mark) and I couldn’t help but ask ourselves, ‘Why is all of this happening to our baby?’”
Landon’s hemophilia condition required his parents to access his arm veins every day for treatments. In fact, Landon himself learned how to administer the procedure by the age of six.
“He had to grow up fast,” said his mom. “He learned how to administer infusions for his independence, and also to be careful on how to avoid certain things. It just became his normal.”
In 2015, Landon experienced two life-altering events.
First, he had to undergo open heart surgery so specialists could trim his aortic arch to make it wider for his veins. The procedure lasted nearly six hours.
“It was really tough,” Ashley admitted. “You’ve got all these thoughts going through your head. The what ifs. You just try to have faith and realize it’s out of your hands.”
Second, that same year, Landon’s mother lost her job as an administrator and accountant at a local IT company and settled in as a stay-at-home mom.
“I had maxed out my medical leave due to Landon’s situation,” Ashley said. “It turned out to be a blessing. While I was working, I felt like I was either a medical mom or work mom, never a fun mom. When I lost my job, financially we didn’t know how we were going to get by, but the Lord answered that. I knew I needed to be home and be able to do normal mom stuff.”
What wasn’t normal happened a few years later in 2018, when a non-profit organization called Team Impact introduced him to Jim Chester, then head baseball coach at Barton College.
Soon thereafter, Chester and the Bulldog baseball team decided to essentially “adopt” young Landon. With Chester, Athletic Director Todd Wilkinson and even President Dr. Douglas Searcy all presiding, a ceremonial national letter-of-intent signing was held on campus in the Fall of 2018.
“The campus media and local newspaper were there and all the players showed up too,” said mom Ashley. “There were balloons and we took so many photos. Landon was so excited.”
Soon, Landon and his mother became fixtures at every practice and home game at Nixon Field on the Barton campus.
“He just loved it,” his mom said. “All the other kids in school were getting into sports and they would come to class talking about their games. So, it was a big deal that Landon also had something to share. All his friends thought it was cool, too.”
His father Mark, who first found facilitator Team Impact while surfing the internet, can only attend Barton games on weekends due to his work schedule as a supervisor for a uniform supply company.
“When there’s games during the week, Landon can’t wait for his father to get home,” Ashley said. “As soon as he gets through the door, Landon is telling him all the details.”
When Coach Chester announced he was leaving the program last year to become head coach at Gardner-Webb University, young Landon grew apprehensive about whether the new coach would welcome him to continue as an honorary teammate.
He need not have worried.
“When I was hired in August (2019), Landon was one of the first names mentioned to me,” said Coach Gorman, grinning. “He had that kind of impact on the program. It has been such a pleasure for me to know him. He’s such a great kid with such spirit and energy. I love the way our guys interact with him. They are very protective and just treat him like a young brother.”
It’s clear that Landon takes his role as a Bulldog teammate quite seriously. When at practices or games, he’s in full Barton regalia. He wears the full official uniform, including pants, jersey, socks and cleats. He even brings his own equipment bag with bats, gloves and balls.
“We had a local embroiderer make two practice jerseys to match our new ones with his number,” added Gorman. “He wears jersey No. 10.”
Before each Barton home game, Landon will sit in the dugout with the players. Sometimes he’ll play wiffle ball with them after batting practice. Then he’ll join his “teammates” for the national anthem, lining up on the foul line. When he gets bored sitting in the stands during the game, he might visit the press box and hang out with some of the relief pitchers that might be keeping score or charting pitches.
And according to his mother, Landon can root with the best of them.
“He can get very excited,” she shared. “When there’s a close game or the team is rallying, he can go crazy.”
Perhaps more than anything, Coach Gorman and the Barton players have become an extended family for Landon and his parents.
“It’s been so rewarding,” her mother said. “We had always felt a little alone because Landon got left out of a lot of things ... This has done more for me than I ever thought. Some players really took interest in him. I feel like I have all these extended sons.”
On the rare occasion that Landon misses a practice or game, players have asked Coach Gorman, “Where’s Landon? Is he okay?”
Landon has become particularly close to some of the players. In fact, when the family staged a drive-by parade in front of his house on his birthday earlier in August, the entire team and Coach Gorman made sure to attend (Video).
Colby Warren, a 6-4, 215-pound infielder and pitcher from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, has taken Landon to a Duke basketball game (not easy for a die-hard North Carolina Tar Heel fan like Colby) and other outings off campus. When Landon underwent his second open-heart surgery on Aug. 5 at Boston Children’s Hospital, there was Colby, his father and brother, visiting the Davis home the night before the trip to help calm any fears.
Following the surgery, many other players sent texts and personal videos to Landon’s mom to make sure their young teammate was doing okay.
Brayden Olson, a senior catcher, once drove 75 miles to Chapel HIll, where Landon was visiting a heart specialist on the North Carolina campus. Yet, what really makes Olson one of his favorites is that the 225-pound behemoth has been known to transform himself into the famed “Tickle Monster.”
“Brayden is just a big kid,” Landon's mom said. “He will tickle him and Landon will laugh and just love it!”
While Landon is limited on what he can do physically, it doesn’t dampen his love for sports. Warren and teammate Troy Maslowski have been known to stop by the house for a game of wiffle ball or hockey with plastic sticks and balls.
“We have two hockey nets and play in the living room. It can get kind of loud,” Landon confessed.
His involvement with the Barton program has also heightened his interest in Major League Baseball, with the Atlanta Braves quickly becoming his favorite pro team. He watches games on TV when he can.
“My favorite players are Ronald Acuña, Nick Markakis and Freddie Freeman,” said Landon, rattling their names off like he knows them personally.
Of course, he’s busy doing homework as classes resume at Community Christian School in Wilson, where Landon begins fifth grade. Unable to attend in person due to COVID-19 and his heart surgery recovery, he and his mother meet his teacher outside the school each Tuesday, exchanging completed assignments and a packet of new homework.
As a parent charged with raising and protecting a child, Ashley Davis said handling the adversity and challenges have had a profound impact on her life perspective.
“It makes you focus on the little things even more,” she said. “You start to see God in the little things, the blessings. Maybe things you didn’t notice before. We’ve had to adapt to this life, a new life. You just think about the time you have with him and to make those times special and not take them for granted.”
As for his future, mom has unbridled hope and pride in her son.
“Landon is so smart,” she beamed. “I know he will be successful and do well. No. 1, I want him to grow up serving the Lord and keep Him first in his life.”
While he’ll have time to figure out a career path, Landon is already thinking about possible jobs when he becomes an adult.
“I wouldn’t mind being a coach or an architect,” he said. “I like drawing. Or maybe I could be a magician. I do card tricks and find stuff on the internet.”
There are ironies in life. For Landon Davis, the honorary Bulldog, the Barton nickname might be the perfect description of a brave and courageous young man. He is truly a Bulldog in every sense of the word.
Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations.
