The Moment
Leave it to a backup catcher from Stockton to provide the most improbable highlight of Colorado's lost season.
Pacific alum Brett Sullivan came off the bench in the 11th inning on September 2 and roped a walk-off two-run single to lift the Rockies over the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5. The Rockies had clawed back multiple times while down to their final strike before Sullivan delivered the gut-punch that sent Colorado's dugout into a rare celebration. He finished that game 1-for-1 with two RBI, pushing his average to .242 on the evening.
The hit itself came with a footnote too strange to ignore: the walk-off single left Sullivan's bat at 73.6 mph — the exact velocity of a pitch he threw for the Rockies earlier this season. Colorado had used him as a position-player pitcher in a blowout, one of those late-season quirks that define a rebuilding year. The matching number was a coincidence, but it fit neatly into the quietly weird, quietly charming arc of Sullivan's 2026.
More Than Just the Moment
The walk-off didn't come out of nowhere. Sullivan had been one of the few feel-good stories on a Rockies club that has spent most of the season in last place. After a "tumultuous trek to Denver" — the phrase Sports Illustrated used in a profile that ran during the week — Sullivan has become a genuine clubhouse presence, described by teammates as a provider of "good vibrations" and a favorite in the locker room despite limited playing time.
That kind of intangible value rarely shows up in a slash line, but Sullivan's overall numbers have quietly ticked upward in August and into September. He hit 1-for-3 with a run scored in the series opener against Atlanta on August 30, then posted a multi-hit game (2-for-4, a walk) earlier in the Orioles series before his extra-inning heroics.
For a Pacific program that doesn't always see its alumni on the biggest stages, Sullivan is making the most of a narrow window. He's a 30-something catcher on a last-place team, the kind of player whose big-league career exists on yearly prove-it deals — and yet he's proving something worth watching.
The Bigger Picture
The Rockies won't be making noise in October, but Sullivan's September push offers something more durable than a playoff run: a reminder of what the game looks like when a fringe roster guy refuses to act like a fringe roster guy. He's hit .231 or better across the recent stretch, taken his walks, and now has a walk-off single that'll live on highlight reels.
For Pacific fans, the name to watch the rest of the way is Sullivan — catching, occasionally pitching, and apparently doing both at the same 73.6 mph.
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