Some teams may be slogging through early-season bullpen woes (right, Mr. Valentine?), but Mt. Blue has a bullpen ace to thank for its first two wins of the season.

Sophomore right-hander Cam Abbott picked up his second win in relief in a 9-6 victory over Brewer on Wednesday. Abbott tossed 5 1/3 strong innings in relief of starter Bradley Jackson as the Cougars (2-1) rallied from an early 3-1 deficit.

Last Friday, Abbott tossed 5 2/3 innings of two-hit ball as the Cougars came back down 5-1 to top Mt. Ararat, 7-5.

Abbott struck out nine in each game, giving 18 strikeouts in 11 innings.

“He throws pretty hard, but he’s around the plate at all times,” Mt. Blue coach Dan Stefanilo said. “He has two pitches (fastball and curve) and he throws them for strikes.”

Throwing strikes has been a problem for the rest of Stefanilo’s pitching staff so far, lending to the need for Abbott’s services out of the bullpen. They walked eight in their 11-0 season-opening loss to Bangor, and Jackson walked four before being lifted in favor of Abbott in the second inning.

“We’ve walked a lot of guys, so that’s something we have to work on,” Stefanilo said.

The walks have put more pressure on the offense, which has responded since being shut out by Bangor. Jackson, Jordan Whitney and Andrew Pratt were the hitting stars against Mt. Ararat. Whitney and Pratt had two-hit games against Brewer, and Nick Hilton belted a single, double and triple.

Run production was one of the Cougars’ question marks heading into the season, so Stefanilo has been encouraged to see his team stringing hits together.

“It’s the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve been able to turn the lineup over quicker than before,” said Stefanilo, who is in his third year. “Guys are stepping up, one through nine.”

Eddies will have seconds

Edward Little coach Scott Annear is one of the more vocal coaches in the region. Annear is constantly shouting encouragement and instructions to his players from the Red Eddies dugout.

But two words in particular stand out this year — 12 seconds. Annear can often be heard shouting it to his team while it is in the field. And it isn’t to indicate he has a stop watch timing his pitcher between pitches.

“I tell (the fielders) if you haven’t moved or said anything in 12 seconds, then you’ve fallen asleep. You’d better be doing something, because it’s too easy to tempting to just sit back and get comfortable,” he said.

“That’s a long period of time during a baseball game. If you’re standing still for 12 seconds, that really is a pretty significant amount of time,” he added. “I just don’t want fielders getting complacent and sedate.”

Annear wants his fielders on their toes, physically and mentally, not picking dandelions. He wants them thinking and talking about situations and preparing for the next pitch.

“Just have a conversation. Am I positioned right? Check with the guy next to you. There’s a million things to do,” he said. “It may sound like a Little League sort of thing, but those Little League coaches are on to something. Think about something before the ball comes, (but) not about chemistry class.”

Smith getting patriotic

After 19 years as athletic director and baseball coach at Bridgton Academy, Brad Smith took a year off from baseball in 2010 while working as assistant principal at Leavitt Area High School.

As is often the case with baseball lifers, Smith, who also coached baseball in Massachusetts and Oklahoma early in his career, wanted to get back into the game. He found the perfect fit in Gray-New Gloucester.

“This was intriguing,” said Smith, who is now working as a substitute teacher. “I live in North Yarmouth and this made it very convenient. Everything has worked out very well. The kids have responded incredibly well. We’ve just asked them to believe in what we’re doing.”

The Patriots remind themselves of that by saying “Believe” when they break team huddles. They have reason to believe through two games with impressive wins over Poland and Waynflete.

Smith believes in playing aggressive baseball, putting base runners in motion and putting pressure on the defense.

“That’s part of the philosophy,” Smith said. “I don’t know why they put a fence out there. It’s probably a par-3 for some of my guys. I’ve always believed that games are won and lost in the infield and you force the infield into mistakes.”

The Patriots will get to test that philosophy with perennial Western Maine Conference powers Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth scheduled in the next week.