Falcons head coach Joel Love says goodbye to Bushland baseball

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Bushland Falcons baseball season came to a close this past weekend and with it came the end of Joel Love’s time as head coach.

Bushland was one of just four Texas Panhandle baseball teams to make it to the regional semifinals.

Through all the adversity - construction on a new school taking away their homefield. only having one senior on the roster, and preparing to say goodbye to their leader - Bushland fought tooth and nail round after round.

“They did every single thing I asked them to do.” Coach Love said after the loss. “You don’t win as many games as we did and get to this point in the playoffs with kids not doing and buying into what you ask them to do. I love every one of them like they’re my own. I coached them like they’re my own.”

Love has decided to step away from Bushland baseball after this season to pursue other opportunities.

“Not an easy decision.” Love said of the move. “This is basically all I’ve done since I was 18 years old. It’s kind of in my blood a little bit, but it takes a lot of courage to make a decision when you know it’s the right one even though you know you’re gonna miss what you’re doing...

“... When the lord opens doors for you and you don’t walk through them‚ sometimes they don’t open again and I felt like I just had to make that choice that was best for my family when it opened.”

Love spent five seasons at the helm for Bushland baseball, accumulating 110 wins and just 19 losses. He never lost a district game.

“When you leave a place, you hope that it’s left better than you found it and it wasn’t in bad shape. It was in great shape. It’s one of those deals where if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, so to speak. So, super proud of all of that...

“... They’ll be fine.” Love said of the players on the Bushland team. “The team is bigger than me, so whoever they put in there, they’ll be fine.”

Love will be a difficult coach to replace for the Falcons, but they re-enter next season with plenty of returning talent and big expectations.

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