Carlisle signs with YSU, Slemons chooses Xavier

vindicator staff report

HUBBARD — The common thread in Wednesday’s signing of two Hubbard High School student-athletes was family.

Alongside their parents, Jackie Carlisle and Bo Slemons made their letter-of-intent choices to continue their sports of volleyball and baseball, respectively, in college.

Carlisle signed to attend Youngstown State University, while Slemons made his commitment to Xavier.

There’s another similarity: both are six-footers.

Carlisle gets most of her ability from her father, Andrew, a 1977 graduate of East High School who ran track for the then-Golden Bears.

The 18-year-old Slemons follows in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Howie Slemons, who had the boys basketball scoring record at Hubbard from 1979-1997.

“It’s been a pleasure to coach Jackie,” said Chuck Montgomery. “She’s definitely one of the top players we’ve had around here. She’s a quality player, quality student and great team player. She deserves a scholarship because she’s done what it takes to be a quality player.”

Montgomery said Carlisle’s jumping ability as an outside hitter enables her to play with a lot of confidence.

“She’s able to jump over people sometimes and hit the ball down harder and faster,” he said. “They had a hard time stopping her with 1,092 kills. We’ll miss her a lot.”

Carlisle’s off-seasons from 7th grade to 10th grade were spent with the Trumbull County Volleyball Club. She played for the Infinity Volleyball Club last offseason and will do so again before college.

“That competition led to this point of getting a full scholarship and playing at the college level,” Montgomery said.

Andrew Carlisle, a drill sargeant in the U.S. Army Reserves based in Canton, noted Jackie was born after he returned from Desert Storm in 1991.

Jackie’s mother, Lorinda, a 1974 Hubbard graduate, said that her 17-year-old daughter got started in volleyball during backyard family reunions.

Before heading to YSU to play under coach Curt Conser, son of Salem’s coach, Don Conser, she needs to lift.

“I’m kind of skinny, so I need to get bigger,” Carlisle said.

Slemons played first and third base and also pitched for the Eagles under coach Brian Bosheff.

As the cleanup hitter, Slemons batted .481 as a sophomore and .467 as a junior.

Why Xavier?

“When I visited with my family, I knew it would be a perfect fit for the next four years,” said Bo, who played summer ball with Rondinelli Tuxedo in the “B” League and with the Ohio Glaciers traveling team.

Slemons said he was spotted by Xavier while playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates scout team (no major league affiliation) this fall.

“They liked what they saw and took me out for a visit and offered me last week,” he said of the Musketeers. “They liked that I could play a bunch of different positions and come in and help them earlier than most players.”

Slemons, also the son of Audrey Slemons, indicated that hitting is his forte, while his pitching is secondary.

Playing for the scout team of mostly 17- and 18-year-olds, helped raise Slemons’ stock.

“It was a big honor to be on that team because it comprised the best players from the region,” Bo said of the Pirates, who saw him play his sophomore year in high school and once over the summer.

“After that, they invited me for fall ball,” he said of the 10-week stretch of games on weekends, played at such places as the USA training facility in West Virginia and at the University of North Carolina.

A mentor for Slemons during his mid-teen years was Terry Landis.

“He’d hit ground balls to me for an hour-and-a-half in the rain and he helped with fundamentals,” he said. “He was a great inspiration and gave me a great work ethic, which I think helped get me to Xavier, where it’s a dream to play at the Division I level.”