“We appreciate everything Wayne’s done at Edgewood. We’re just moving on,” Brown said. “I’m relying a lot on the assistants. I’m just there for leadership abilities and that type of stuff. I’m just there for the girls.”
» PREP SOFTBALL: Hamilton 3, Middletown 2
Edgewood is 9-10 after starting the year with eight straight losses. The Cougars were actually on a five-game winning streak when Asher resigned (they’re 4-2 under Brown).
Brown said Asher stepped down for personal reasons. Asher said he’s fine with that characterization, but noted that he had “irreconcilable differences” with the school board and some softball parents.
“After 18 years, it just wasn’t a good situation to be in,” Asher said. “Officially I resigned, but literally it was just time to go. It was something me and my family didn’t need to be a part of.”
His daughter, senior first baseman Madison Asher, decided to leave the program as well.
Wayne Asher led the Cougars to Southwest Ohio Conference championships in 2016 and 2017 and was in his 18th season at the Edgewood helm. He retired briefly at the end of the 2016 campaign, but returned to coach the last two years.
“Some of the girls came to me and wanted me to stick around,” Asher said. “That’s why I came back.”
He was planning to retire for good after the 2018 season.
“When you start out 0-8, it puts a lot of pressure on everybody, and it kind of escalated from that,” Asher said. “I don’t want any bad blood. Edgewood’s got some good people. Greg Brown has always been cool to me. The bottom line is, it was just time for me to leave.”
Brown, who is coaching with assistants Jeff Halsey, Todd Evans and Floyd Davis, said the head position will be posted at the end of the season.
The Cougars are 7-3 in the SWOC and still have an outside shot at getting a share of the conference title. They will close the SWOC season at Mount Healthy on Wednesday and at home against Harrison on Thursday.
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