my $i = 0;
foreach (sort sortHash (keys (%hashName))) {
  if ($i == 0) { $max = $hashName{$_}; last }
} # end-foreach

##</code><code>##

foreach (sort sortHash (keys (%hashName))) {
  $max = $hashName{$_};
  last;
} # end-foreach

##</code><code>##

my $max = ( sort sortHash (keys (%hashName)) )[0];

# also possible:
my $min = ( sort sortHash (keys (%hashName)) )[-1];

##</code><code>##

my ($max) = sort sortHash (keys (%hashName));