University of Maine pitcher Greg Norton struggled last season, going 4-6 with a 4.98 earned run average.

The junior righthander of South Portland showed signs of returning to his old form in a 3-1 loss to Stony Brook in the 2004 America East championship game. Now he appears ready to set the tone for the Black Bears staff.

In two starts on the Florida trip, Norton is 1-1 with an 0.75 ERA and seven strikeouts in 12 innings.

“He’s stepping it up and I really like what he’s doing,” said coach Paul Kostacopoulos, whose Bears are 3-5 after Tuesday’s 16-6 loss to Central Michigan. “He was a question mark and I think he’s starting to answer that question with, ‘coach, I’m back.’ I think he is.”

Norton, who as a freshman in 2003 posted a 7-1 record and a 2.39 ERA and was named the America East Rookie of the Year, is among several bright spots as UMaine tries to solidify its lineup during its two-week stint in Florida.

Sophomore first baseman Joel Barrett of Brewer is pacing the offense with a .500 batting average (14-for-28), a home run and eight runs batted in.

“Barrett has been on fire. He’s a flat-out good hitter,” Kostacopoulos said. “He picked up right where he left off last year.”

Outfielders Greg Creek (.476, 2 HR, 5 RBIs) and Ryan Quintal (.394, 3 RBIs), along with catcher Aaron Izaryk (.346, 4 RBIs) are among the veterans who have started well.

“Those guys have showed that they’re back and ready to play at the level of their ability,” said Kostacopoulos, who is especially pleased with Quintal’s performance.

Along with Norton, returning starters Steve Richard (0-0, 3.75), Troy Martin (1-0, 3.86) and Greg Creek (0-0, 0.00) and reliever Scott Robinson (1-0, 0.00) have all been steady from the outset.

“We’ve just got to develop that middle part of our staff so we can be strong out of the bullpen and be able to finish some games,” Kostacopoulos said.

The Bears’ coach was encouraged by the team’s performance in last weekend’s series against Stetson.

“We played 23 innings of very good baseball,” he said. [Innings] six through nine [Sunday] were just bad. We didn’t do anything right. But when you can go in there against a top-40 team and feel like you belong there, that’s a good start.”

The Bears have had their share of struggles. They have had some defensive lapses, committing 20 errors in the first seven games. And most of UMaine’s untested pitchers have struggled against some good opponents in Stetson and Seton Hall.

Kostacopoulos attributes the early inconsistency to the inexperience of the young players. Freshman Curt Smith (.345, 3 RBIs) has been the starter at third base while his classmates, 2B Moises Rivera (.400), OF Mark Ostrander (.300) and 1B/DH Frank Pesanello (.278, 1 HR, 8 RBI) have also seen considerable action.

“It’s just going to take some time to put it all together,” Kostacopoulos said. “We had a week of kind of disjointed baseball, which is typical, and this week we have to start putting it together.”