Shimanovsky nearly perfect for Highland Park

Updated: June 4, 2011 5:06PM

His last outing, Highland Park sophomore left-hander Brett Shimanovsky endured his first rough start of his short varsity career.

On Monday against No. 7 Glenbrook North, Shimanovsky was nearly perfect.

Pitching in miserably cold and windy conditions, Shimanovsky lost his no-hit bid in the bottom of the seventh but settled for a sterling one-hit 1-0 victory over the host Spartans in a Central Suburban North matchup.

The 6-foot, 165-pound Shimanovsky (5-1) struck out nine, walked six, picked two runners off and had a no-hitter through six before yielding a one-out, pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh. But Shimanovsky got the next two outs to put the finishing touches on Central Suburban North champion Glenbrook North (24-3, 13-2).

“I tried not to think about (the no-hitter),” said Shimanovsky, who notched his first career complete game. “I just tried to think about throwing strikes.”

Shimanovsky struck out six in the first three innings, including the side in the third to set the tone.

“The thing I’m most proud of is he had a rough outing against New Trier in his last start,” said Highland Park coach Eddie Pieczynski. “For a young kid to grab the ball again and have the confidence to go against another tough opponent is impressive.”

Highland Park (13-15, 6-8) pushed the game’s only run across in the fifth inning after a leadoff single by Daniel Oversen was wiped out on an unassisted double play on a hit-and-run. Georgetown-bound Max Allen followed with a single, then junior catcher Jason Goldstein, who’s committed to Illinois, walked for his third time in the game. Senior right-fielder Frank Maione then delivered a run-scoring single up the middle.

With the blistery conditions, there wasn’t a whole lot of offense to be had. Maione’s single made senior left-hander Jason Pomeroy the tough-luck loser. In six innings work, Pomeroy (4-1) allowed five hits, struck out six and walked four.

“I thought [Shimanovsky] did a good job working down in the zone against us,” said first-year Glenbrook North coach Dominic Savino. “He was aggressive in his approach with our hitters and I thought we were a little too passive in the first four innings at the plate.

“Give credit when credit is due. He pitched really well.”

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