Oh What a Feeling for Hanover’s Layman

CEDAR LAKE -- Anthony Layman was a 14-year-old rising baseball star competing for the Indiana Bulls travel team. On this particular day, Layman was wearing the catcher’s gear.
A runner on first took off for second on the dusty diamond in Oak Forest, and Layman did what he had done countless times before.
He rose to fire a strike toward second.
Then, just like that, everything changed.
Layman’s fingers got caught in the umpire’s mask as he tried to make the throw. There was a little discomfort at first, but the full impact of the injury didn’t hit him until the next morning.
Extreme pain sent him to the doctor, where the incoming Hanover Central freshman was told he needed Tommy John surgery.
“They told me if I chose not to play baseball anymore, I wouldn’t need to get the surgery,” Layman said. “And that was fine with me because my first love is football.”
Hanover football coach Tony Bartolomeo knew Layman well. The two were neighbors, and eventually Bartolomeo’s son, Rocco, would drive Layman to school each morning.
The baseball injury eventually subsided, and Layman started on varsity as a freshman.
But it returned the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons.
And the return was devastating.
“I had to get Tommy John,” Layman said. “And when I woke up, I couldn’t feel anything in my right hand. Nothing. I had to relearn everything.
“How to use a fork. I had an art class, and I had to draw with my left hand. It was tough.”
Bartolomeo watched as Layman came out for summer drills like a one-armed bandit, scuffling with every step he took.
“When a kid is going through something like that, you quickly start thinking not like a football coach, but as a father,” Bartolomeo said. “You care about his well-being, his health, everything. So he had a second Tommy John, and it seemed to fix the problem.
“He was able to play the next season without missing anything.”
The fact that Layman was on the field, along with 20 other seniors, last Friday in Hanover Central’s first-ever game against Lake Central was huge.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound tight end and linebacker and his teammates held on for a historic 24-21 victory.
The victory was special for Bartolomeo.
The same could be said for Layman.
Anthony’s father, David Layman, was a star on several Lake Central teams in the late 1990s.
The win was secured in the final minutes when fellow linebacker Logan Baughman recovered a fumble, followed by a very sweet victory formation for the Wildcats.
“I told our guys before the game that (Lake Central) has 3,000 students and we have our 850,” Bartolomeo said. “But I let our guys know that I believe we have the right 11 to go out on the field.”
Hanover is now 2-0 against two Duneland Athletic Conference schools and will open Northwest Crossroads Conference play Friday when Highland comes to town.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Layman said of his emotions after beating Lake Central.
But certainly, he no longer has issues feeling anything anymore.
“We were jumping up and down, going crazy all over the field,” he continued. “No one believed we could do it, and we did.”
Layman has two younger brothers in the Hanover system, and his sister plays flag football for the Wildcats.
Yes, football is huge in the Layman family, to say the least.
“My dad coaches all of us in everything,” Layman said. “That’s what made Friday’s win so big for us.”
Layman, who has 10 catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns, attended several football camps this summer and hopes to play college football one day.
He has an offer from Roosevelt University so far, with several other schools watching this season to see if Layman can play his way into their recruiting circles.
“I want to be a history teacher,” Layman said.
“And I want to coach football.”

By Steve Hanlon
Heartland Sports Network