Landon Anderson Coming Up Big For Mayfair Baseball

It doesn’t take long to spot Mayfair senior Landon Anderson. The 6-foot-4 pitcher hurling the ball past helpless batters is as hard to miss as his 8-1 record, 0.93 ERA and 92 strikeouts. While Anderson’s impact on the games is easy to measure, his calm demeanor, or his “voice on the field,” as freshman teammate Alberto Rios put it, has proven to have an immeasurable impact on the Mayfair baseball team.

“There is a different feeling when he pitches,” said Mayfair coach Danny Gonzales. “He brings confidence to the team. He doesn’t have to say anything. He works his butt off and the guys feed off that. They see him and want to win for him.”

Mayfair (17-6) finished second in the Suburban League and will open the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs at home today with a wild-card game vs. Sage Hill (21-4-1).

Two years ago, Anderson was far from the Monsoons’ ace as a sophomore who hardly saw the field. He wasn’t even getting much practice with the pitchers when he decided to get a personal trainer and join a travel ball team.

“I dedicated the summer to baseball,” Anderson said. “It helped me become a better player. I got stronger, got more velocity, and it really helped me stay focused.”

When his junior year started, Anderson developed his own workout regimen in addition to Mayfair’s regular practices.

“Our practice is the bare minimum for him,” Gonzales said. “He finishes and then does his own workouts. His work ethic is truly second to none. He set himself up to succeed and he put himself on the map.”

Being named first-team All-Suburban League as a junior didn’t stop Anderson from looking for new ways to add to his game. He began reading books about mental strength and how to be a better leader.

“My personality has always been to stay to myself,” said Anderson. “But I’ve always been trying to work hard, day in and day out, and do what I’m supposed to do, whether people are watching or not.”

Whether or not they were watching, Anderson’s efforts were noticed when he was selected as a captain this year for his voice on the field.

His leadership has been even more apparent in his past two games on the mound. Two weeks ago, Mayfair faced off against La Mirada with an opportunity to pull into a tie atop the league standings. Anderson not only threw a complete-game shutout, his second of the season, but also delivered an RBI single in the third inning to break a 0-0 tie. Mayfair scored two more runs in the inning en route to 4-0 win.

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“I was just trying to lead my team,” Anderson said. “Nobody does everything on this team. We each do little things that come together.”

Last week, Anderson pitched 9 1/3 innings of an 11-inning victory over Glenn to secure second place in league. He allowed only one run on six hits before fellow captain and senior pitcher Eric Chavarria relieved Anderson. Chavarria finished the game and earned the victory after senior Zach Morris hit a game-ending RBI single.

“Sometimes it is hard to follow him up,” joked Chavarria. His 56 strikeouts are second-most in the league. “Every outing he is so good. He doesn’t say a lot, but he gets it done and makes everyone else on the field better.”

Anderson will graduate in June and attend Vanguard University to continue his baseball career. Gonzales said Anderson is just getting started and that his impact will continue to be felt at Mayfair.

“Landon is a great role model,” Rios said. “I see him and I want to be able to say I worked as hard as Landon did. I want to be able to say I improved as much as he did.”