By Brendan Kurie, South Coast Today

Deep in a hold lost in the catacombs of the TS Kennedy reverberated a familiar sound in an unfamiliar place.

Thwack. Thwack.

The unmistakable sound of a bat making contact with a ball is commonplace almost everywhere, except maybe in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.

But that’s where Logan Sullo spent his summer taking swings.

Sullo, a sophomore at Mass. Maritime, was taking his first Sea Term, which meant six weeks at sea aboard the Kennedy, which ended just five days before baseball season was slated to start in February.

That meant Sullo needed to try to stay in shape while jumping from ports in Panama, Aruba, Costa Rica and Key West, so he brought a bat and a tee and a net, but found it difficult to find his balance as the ship navigated the ocean swells in a small hold that often reached 100 degrees.

“With the ship rolling it was useless,” Sullo said. “A couple other teammates were on the ship and we tried multiple times. Overall, I probably got 100 swings in. It was just so hard because the ship is rocking back and forth.”

One might be willing to give Sullo, a Bishop Stang graduate from Acushnet, a break this season, considering his winter wasn’t spent in the batting cages. But one wouldn’t have to. Sullo’s back to being Sullo.

After winning MASCAC Rookie and Player of the Year honors while hitting .446/.543/.797 with two homers, 18 RBIs, 17 runs, eight doubles, six triples and 11 walks as a freshman, he’s arguably been better as a sophomore. Through 30 games, he’s hitting .429/.525/.758 with five homers, 29 RBIs, 22 runs, seven doubles, four triples and 18 walks. Over those two seasons, he’s struck out just 18 times. He ranks in the top 50 in the country in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and triples and leads the MASCAC in all three triple-slash categories.

“He just has natural power,” said first-year Mass. Maritime head coach Mike Kelley. “Whenever he connects, he’s got gap and home-run power. You’re just excited for him to get up to bat. You’re just waiting for something good to happen.”

Sullo did start off the season slowly, hitting just .294 through his first 12 games. Then he caught fire. On April 4, he was named MASCAC Player of the Week after batting .636 (7-11) with a double, two triples, two homers, three RBIs and six runs scored. Two weeks later, he won the award again after hitting .700 (7-10) with a double, a run and an RBI.

“It took me a while to feel comfortable at the plate again,” he said. “The difference between this year and last year, is last year I was working out for three months from Monday to Sunday before we got into the season.”

While he wasn’t able to get the necessary swings in, Sullo was able to find time for the weight room while aboard ship.

“That was honestly the biggest thing getting me through Sea Term,” he said. “I probably only skipped out on five or six days of gym time (in three months). I’ve never worked out as much as I did on that boat. It kept me sane.”

Sullo’s also been faced with opposing pitchers who are wary to give him a pitch to hit. After seeing plenty of juicy fastballs over the plate as a freshman, he’s gotten used to getting pitched around with junk this year. He’s even been intentionally walked a couple times by Fitchburg State.

“That affects me a lot,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it lately. Last year, I was all about jumping on that first pitch. I was never working myself into 2-2 counts. This year, it’s a lot harder because I’m looking for those first-pitch fastballs, but I’m swinging at junk or a bad pitch outside and I’ll pop something up.”

While he’s been working to make adjustments at the plate, his coach has been most impressed with his improved play behind the plate.

“His bat’s always been there, so working with our catching coach (Chase Gallagher) he’s become even better defensively,” Kelley said. “Only being a sophomore, the ceiling is really high for him. He has all the potential in the world. He works hard, hopefully he’s sitting in the middle of our lineup the next two years.”

That’s Sullo’s goal as well. The marine engineering major isn’t looking at transferring to a larger school. Instead, he’s focused on repeating last year’s MASCAC regular-season title and this year going on to win the conference tournament. Right now, the Buccaneers trail Salem State by one game in the loss column.

“I’m really hoping to host the MASCAC Tournament,” Sullo said. “That would be awesome. It’s all you can ask for is to have a great team and go out and play and have fun and win.”

That’s easy to say when you’re not trying to see through dripping sweat in order to hit off a wobbling tee somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.