CONWAY — Saying he had the most fun in any start this season, Jeff Locke was impressive once again for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. The talented left-hander scattered three hits while striking out four over seven scoreless innings to pick up his fourth win of the season as Pittsburgh topped Houston 1-0. Locke improved to 4-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.73.

"This was the funnest game I've pitched all year," Locke said.

Locke, a 2006 Kennett High graduate and the son of Pam and Alan Locke, of Redstone, is 4-1 on the season in nine starts and has an Earned Run Average from 2.73. This season, he has pitched 52 2/3 innings; allowed 39 hits; 16 earned runs; 5 home runs; walked 22; and struck out 32 while holding opponents to a .215 batting average.

Locke went seven innings for the second time in his career — and for the second time in five starts — and made it look effortless. He pitched hitless ball until Carlos Corporan's leadoff single in the fifth, gave up a total of three hits along with a couple of walks, and was never in genuine trouble. The Astros did not get a man to third on his watch.

It was the third time in nine starts this season that Locke did not allow a run. He's gone at least six innings in five of his past six outings. In the 37 innings of his last six starts, Locke has surrendered 21 hits while posting an impressive 1.70 ERA over that stretch.

Locke was locked up in an old-fashioned pitcher's duel with Houston starter Lucas Harrell. Runs and hits were not easy to come by as both pitchers were dealing.

"You do get zoned in more," said Locke, acknowledging the competition from his mound opponent. "The way the game was going, with no one getting any hits, you had the sense that the first run scored might be it."

Locke needed 94 pitches for seven scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out four. He didn't allow a hit until the fifth and all three Astros hits against him were singles.

The Astros' lineup featured the likes of Carlos Corporan, Jimmy Paredes and Marwin Gonzalez, but Locke has done this before. He posted an identical line — 7 scoreless innings, 3 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts — on the road against the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals April 28.

Despite such a line, manager Clint Hurdle said Locke battled himself.

"That's not the best stuff he's had all season," Hurdle said. "He was behind in a number of counts, his first-pitch strikes were below 50 percent. That said, he didn't give up anything, ...he pitched. He danced around the lineup, mixed and matched. His offspeed pitches played well."

Pittsburgh cacher Michael McKenry had nothing but praise for the Redstone Rocket.

"We were joking (on the bench) that Harrell kept hitting the bottom of the knee with every pitch," McKenry said, "but Locke was even better. There's nothing like catching a shutout, and 1-0 makes it even sweeter."

Harrell allowed only one run — a fifth inning homer by Pedro Alvarez — but that would do for the Pirates at PNC Park before 28,471 spectators in a game that took 2 hours, 24 minutes. The Pirates won for the eighth time in their past 10 games and improved to 26-18.

Locke said Harrell's pace and success Sunday kept him focused.

"Any time I can get in the dugout, get a drink of water, he mows through them real quick in the first two innings and, before you know it, you got to run back out there again," Locke said. "It keeps your mind off things. It keeps you attacking and being aggressive. You don't have a whole lot of time to think about anything that can happen."

Neither pitcher allowed a hit through the first four innings. The Pirates couldn't even hit a ball out of the infield, and the only one they put in the air was a pop fly to second. Travis Snider led off the fourth by attempting to bunt for a base hit.

Locke and Harrell needed only 109 pitches combined to complete the first four innings.

"McKenry game-planned well with him," Hurdle said of Locke. "There weren't a lot of shakes. There weren't a lot of long sequences and pauses before he had to unload once he got on the rubber."

Locke admitted he did not have his best stuff. The sinker, his most effective pitch this season, resisted Locke's attempts to get it in the strike zone.

"At times, he had to slow down and make sure his mechanics were in tune," McKenry said. "He did a good job throwing some pitches he doesn't ordinarily throw."

Locke's next scheduled start, weather-permitting, will come this Saturday when the Pirates play the Brewers in Milwaukee at 4:10 p.m.

The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, ESPN, the Pittsburgh Tribune and the Pittsburgh Pirates contributed to this story.

U.S. biathlete Sean Doherty and Canadian Anne-Marie Comeau, who have already notched results most seniors would envy, and they haven't graduated high school yet, have been selected at FasterSkier's Junior Skiers of the Year for all the talented U19's out there.

Sean Doherty, of Center Conway and a senior at Kennett High, trains at Vermont Collegiate Biathlon/Ethan Allen.

"It's a pretty big moment when you grab your nation's flag and ski across the finish uncontested, and Doherty, a high-school senior, did just that at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth and Junior World Championships in January in Obertillach, Austria," FasterSkier stated last week.

One day after notching silver in the 7.5-kilometer sprint, the 17-year-old from Center Conway, N.H., became the first American to win gold at the Youth and Junior World Championships since Jay Hakkinen in 1997. Despite some early penalties, Doherty collected himself and skied to a nearly 30-second victory in the 10 k pursuit race, soaking up every moment he could.

"It was incredible," he told FasterSkier after the race. "It was just amazing to know that it was locked up, that I was going to be able to grab the flag at the end, all the stuff that I just see people do at big World Championship type races, and then all of a sudden, wow, I'm going to be able to do that."

The next day on Jan. 27, Doherty racked up another silver, this time in the 12.5 k individual race, to become the winning-most U.S. biathlete at Youth and Junior World Championships.

Great results and medals are nothing new to Doherty; last year at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, he anchored U.S. biathlon's mixed relay to its first medal: bronze. After his most recent performances in Obertillach, Doherty appeared in Sport Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd."

"It was an amazing week," Doherty told TeamUSA.org. "The best way I could put it is that it was incredible to have all that good racing come together in a week when it really, really counted."

Anne-Marie Comeau (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) at just 16 years old, this Quebec athlete, who shares the same training centre and town (St-Ferreol-les-Neiges) as Canada's celebrated World Cup skier Alex Harvey, is quickly rising to similar success.

In December, Comeau earned her first World Cup starts in Canmore, Alberta, and made the top 50 in both the 10 k classic mass start and 15 k skiathlon. In the classic race, she was the top junior and second Canadian out of 14 nation's group women. (Did we mention she's 16?)

In late January, she ventured to Liberec, Czech Republic, for her second Junior World Ski Championships. There, she was the second Canadian to teammate Frederique Vezina in the 10 k skiathlon, placing 34th despite a crash while Vezina tallied 29th.

Back in Canada, Comeau wowed at Canadian Ski Nationals in March, finishing 11th in two races: the 5 k freestyle and 10 k classic. She wrapped up her season on yet another high note in California, placing 14th – the best of any junior or Canadian – in the U.S. Distance Nationals 30 k classic mass start at Royal Gorge near Truckee.

FasterSkier covers all things nordic.

BARTLETT — Official USSA skier Tucker Perkins realized his true passion for skiing on Attitash Mountain in New Hampshire when he spent every weekend learning to ski at just three years old.

Since his start, Perkins has made a name for himself in the winter sports world through competitions and international placements, but his recent acceptance on to the first ever U.S. Pro HalfPipe Team has solidified him as one of America's up and coming top athletes – at only 21 years old.

Perkins is known as an athlete with smooth style, huge amplitude and stomping tricks when it counts, and is known by his admirers as a hot, up-and-coming skier destined for the 2014 Olympics.

At 21, Perkins is one force to reckon with. Although he has traveled the world competing for top spots, he will always call New England his home.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association has named former national team coach Eric Harlow as Eastern alpine regional program director.

Harlow, the son of Vicki and Paul Harlow, of Intervale, has extensive experience in coaching, having served as FIS head coach at Burke Mountain Academy and women's head coach at both Stratton Mountain School and Rowmark Ski Academy.

He also coached the U.S. Women's Alpine Ski Team, working closely with Europa Cup athletes.

Harlow, a graduate of Gould Academy and Colby-Sawyer College, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with him to his new position.

The Eastern Alpine Regional Program Director is responsible for the implementation of USSA alpine programs within the eastern region, the eastern region competition system, direct communication with the USSA Clubs within the eastern region and providing leadership, education, information and an avenue for coordination and feedback.

"The USSA has amazing potential in its Eastern Region," said USSA Alpine Director Patrick Riml. "Eric brings great international experience and firsthand knowledge of domestic programs which will be valuable in providing leadership to the East – high energy with great communications skills. He has the broad perspective to best support our USSA clubs in helping Eastern athletes achieve their goals."