The way things are going for the Orono Twins during this American Legion baseball season, they may want to consider changing their nickname to the Mariners.

Much like Seattle is simply sailing away from the rest of the pack in the American League West, the unbeaten Twins are leaving the other seven Zone 1 teams eating their dust.

The Twins are 14-0 with a 41/2-game lead over second-place Bangor and seven games left in the regular season.

How is Orono doing it? Pitching, defense, and timely hitting … In that order.

“I think it’s been a little bit of everything,” said head coach Jay Kemble. “We’re 14-0, but we could very easily be 5-9. Pitching and defense have been our keys and we find ways to score runs when we need to.”

Pitching: Until a come-from-behind 17-12 victory over Trenton Tuesday in which the Twins rallied from a 9-1 deficit, all of Orono’s wins came on the strength of complete-game outings from their four regular starting pitchers. They now have 13 complete-game efforts.

“Of course you raise an eyebrow with all the complete games,” said starting center fielder Daryl Watson, a converted shortstop who also pitches. “That’s a high number for just about any league, except maybe Little League.”

There’s nothing Little League about Watson’s arm. The Orono graduate is 3-0 with a 4.72 earned run average, 18 strikeouts, 20 hits and just eight walks in 21 innings.

The first time any non-starters had taken the mound for Orono came Tuesday when Al Glossian and Ryan Levesque stemmed the tide and allowed Orono to rally.

“We were talking about how bad we felt for the relief pitchers the other day because we haven’t really given them a chance to come into the game,” said Old Town’s Brian Tewhey, whose ERA was 4.00 before Tuesday’s game. Now it’s 7.83, but he’s 2-0 as the No. 4 man in the pitching rotation.

The other key rotation member is Ryan Brown, who is 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA. He has notched 29 strikeouts in 28 innings while walking 18 and allowing 23 hits.

Orono has a team ERA of 3.76 with 96 hits, 96 strikeouts, and 44 walks in 98 innings.

Defense: Despite converting two longtime infielders to outfielders this summer, the Twins have improved their overall defense in terms of range and reliability, robbing several batters of extra-base hits while committing 25 errors, 10 of which came in two games.

“I think the big thing about this team is we have some phenomenal athletes,” said assistant coach Aaron Watson.

Hitting: First and foremost, cleanup hitter Brad Wheaton of Millinocket is leading the team with an .720 batting average and three home runs. No, that point, eight-one-eight figure is not a typo. Through Thursday, Wheaton was simply scalding the ball to the tune of 18 hits in 25 at-bats with nine runs and seven RBIs.

“I’m seeing the ball really well and I’m real comfortable right now,” Wheaton said. “I’m comfortable at the plate, with my swing, the way I’m seeing the ball, my stance … everything.”

Meanwhile, opposing pitchers are increasingly uncomfortable facing the 18-year-old. Then again, opposing batters aren’t exactly relaxed at the plate when Wheaton’s on the mound as he is leading Orono with a 4-0 record. He has a 2.57 ERA with 25 strikeouts, 24 hits and just four walks in 28 innings.

Wheaton has been on a mission since a promising spring senior season ended prematurely on a bitter note.

After helping to lead his Stearns High School baseball team to a Class C state championship title and the Twins to another Legion state tournament appearance last year, Wheaton was eager for the high school season, but he and two teammates were suspended from Stearns’ team with a week left in the regular season for violating the school’s athletic code.

“We were at a party where alcohol was being served before the season even started,” explained Wheaton, who will play ball at Saint Joseph’s College next year.

None of the three actually drank alcohol, but their mere presence was a clear violation and they paid the penalty, missing the remainder of Stearns’ season.

“After that, I definitely started looking forward to the summer because I really put the pressure on myself to have a good season and make everyone forget about the way the high school season ended,” Wheaton said. “It’s a motivator for me. It gets the fire inside me stoked up.”

Now Wheaton is stoking the fire for the Twins as they race toward their third Zone 1 title in six years and first since 1998.

“I think he personally has something to prove,” said Watson. “And I think he’s proving it.”

Other key offensive contributors are third baseman-pitcher Tewhey (.400, 6 RBIs, 12 runs), leadoff hitter and shortstop Shaun Tidwell (.385, 14 RBIs), catchers Roger Cole (.318) and Bo Thomas (.367) – who have combined for 13 runs and 14 RBIs; left fielder Tyler Jellison (11 RBIs, 9 runs out of ninth spot); first baseman Brad Goody (.304, 8 RBIs), second baseman Mike Merritt (.324, 9 runs); and speedster Ryan Sweeney (.263, 9 runs), who is 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.

As a team, Orono is hitting .333 with seven homers, 23 doubles, and 104 runs in 395 at-bats while yielding 60 runs.