For the first time in seven springs, Shalhevet Baseball beat rival YULA yesterday, 4-0, on the baseball field at Venice High School in Mar Vista.

On a bright Sunday afternoon, Shalhevet balanced a methodical offensive with menacing defense as it improved to 2-3.

But the star of the game was senior and co-captain Jeremy Glouberman, who pitched a complete game shutout.

Strategically mixing up fastballs and off-speed pitches, Jeremy’s dominance on the mound paved the way for a quartet of runs. Jeremy struck out seven, walked six, and only allowed two singles.

Asked when he knew he had the shutout, he said, “I didn’t.”

“Before the game, we made it a big deal that we were playing YULA, but once the game started it was just another game,” Jeremy said in an interview later.

“I tried to keep my pitches outside, I threw a lot of curves and strikes; got some strikeouts and some ground outs. Then I incorporated my fastball.”

He credited the team’s overall defense for the win.

“It’s really hard to throw a shutout if your defense doesn’t play to its best ability, so it was really a team effort,” Jeremy said.

Behind the plate of Jeremy’s gem was fellow co-captain Max Helfand, whose catching performance included throwing out not one or two, but four baserunners. The Panthers got caught stealing second base twice as Max gunned the ball across the diamond, as well as two times at first base.

“It was all mental.” Max said after the game. “I was concentrated today and my footwork was right, and it’s just about playing aggressive baseball.”

While Max pinned down Panther runners, YULA star senior Noam Posner said his team didn’t run the bases well.

“We didn’t play smart baseball,” said Noam, who is also the team’s captain.

The 4-0 tally was the same score as last year’s loss to YULA but with the opposite result. Excluding 2012 — when Shalhevet didn’t play YULA due to a scheduling conflict — the Firehawks have lost to YULA every year since 2008, when they beat the Panthers twice.

With this win, the Firehawks are now 3-10 versus YULA since 2006.

“Every year I’ve been at Shalhevet, we’ve lost to YULA,” said Max, also a senior. “It’s good to finally get the W against them.”

Shalhevet’s new coach, Ryan Coleman, was unaware that the team had not defeated YULA in so long.

“I didn’t know that, but now that I do, it means a lot to me — I’m 1-0 versus YULA,” Ryan told the Boiling Point.

Ryan, who is also the assistant coach for Firehawak Basketball, said the game was a grudge match for him after Shalhevet’s fourth-quarter meltdown against the Panthers Feb. 14.

“We got our butts kicked by YULA in basketball,” said Coach Ryan. “I said there’s a small part of me that wants to play with a little revenge. It was definitely an emotional game and a great win for us.”

YULA pitcher Asher Remer pitched six innings and gave up four runs. Firehawk left fielder Elon Glouberman got things started in the second inning with a line drive single and stole second. On a steal attempt at third base, YULA catcher A.J. Kahan overthrew the ball and Elon ran home and scored on the play.

Elon’s run gave Shalhevet a 1-0 lead, which was ultimately all the team would need.

But Shalhevet’s bats stayed alive. First baseman Noah Rothman, who has been on fire the entire season, belted a pair of singles in the game, including one in the fourth inning. Noah channeled his inner Ricky Henderson as he stole third base, then scored on an RBI sacrifice-ground out from third baseman Alex Silberstein to give Shalhevet a lead of 2-0.

Alex also drove in pinch-runner Seffi Arnan in the sixth inning on another sack-ground out. Center fielder Micah Gill laid down a two-out bunt in the fifth and Jeremy reached base on a hit-by-pitch.

After Micah stole third, Coach Ryan called an elaborate play dubbed “early” to score Shalhevet’s third run. Before the next pitch, Jeremy started “stealing” second, which garnered the YULA pitcher’s attention trying to throw him out. While Jeremy stalled the play by getting caught in a pickle, Micah dashed home before Jeremy was tagged for the third out.

Since there was no force play, the run stood, because Micah crossed home plate before the final out was recorded.

“It’s a designed play that we’ve worked on a bunch in practice,” Coach Ryan said. “The idea is that the runner on first is going to get in a run down between first and second. And as soon as the pitcher turns his back to the runner at third, the runner at third breaks for home.”

Jeremy said that kind of training has made the new coach a good fit for the Shalhevet team, which is fielding the exact same players as a year ago.

“He makes sure to stay on top of us and makes sure we practice the right way and do all the right things so we don’t make errors – we play the game right,” Jeremy said, adding, “But he also knows how to have fun, and I think we just really enjoy having him as our coach.”

The Firehawks defense was nearly flawless as it committed only a single error, when Max was called for Catcher’s Interference. The Firehawks also fielded the ball well to prevent YULA from advancing extra bases on hits and sacrifice plays.

YULA junior David Hanelin hit a towering ball to left field, but Elon corralled it to prevent a double, holding David at first.

“We have a great defense behind me,” Jeremy said. “We just made plays and it makes it easy for me to be up there.”

Noam Posner is not only YULA’s captain but its pitching ace and top starter. However, he played center field for the Panthers on Sunday. Perhaps YULA prioritized league play overall the annual rivalry game with Shalhevet.

“I pitched a league game Wednesday, we won,” Noam said. “It’s three days’ rest, it’s not enough.”

Noam was also the most imposing offensive threat for the Panthers. The senior captain whacked a single into the gap and walked. He also stole a pair of bases, but never advanced further than third base.

But he told the Boiling Point that the Panthers were trying to be too aggressive at the plate.

“I just think we were trying to do too much with the ball,” Noam said. ”We were trying to just hit the ball into the outfield and not just making solid contact.”

The Firehawks, meanwhile, seem to be improving across the board after last year’s 7-6 season.  Jeremy said that like Coach Ryan, last year’s coach, Jerry Royster – formerly Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers – also focused on technique and fine-tuning, building skills for this year’s strengthened team.

“Last year was a good experience, and this year we’re all stronger,” Jeremy said. “We’re a good unit – we all like each other and nobody dislikes anyone on the team.”