Central sophomores Drew Wallen and Payton Berens recently finished up their trial games to become the next voices of the Seattle Sounders’ S2 club. Wallen and Berens were one of the three pairs selected out of thousands of applicants to try out for the Sounders S2 commentator positions.

The Sounders S2 club team is a minor league team for the major league soccer team Seattle Sounders FC.

Berens approached Wallen at Barto Hall last February, and told him about an opportunity to audition for the play-by-play position for the Seattle Sounders S2 team.

Wallen did play-by-play for Central’s basketball teams last season, and said he is always looking for new opportunities to perfect his craft.

However, the contest required a pair of commentators to audition for both the play-by-play and color commentary positions.

“Payton is a huge Sounders fan and I’m not really a soccer guy, so I said, ‘I know nothing about soccer, why don’t you do it with me?’ ” Wallen said.

A few days later, Wallen and Berens dressed up in suits and ties, went up to the fourth floor in Barto Hall and made their audition video.

“We stood up my iPhone on a stack of books to balance it, and from there made our audition video,” Wallen said.

The applicants were sent a two-minute clip of a Sounders game leading to a goal, which  Wallen and Berens commentated over. They decided early on that since Wallen already had background in play-by-play,  he would assume that role and Berenswould provide the color commentary.

In March, Wallen and Berens were one of the top three pairs selected and got to call five games this past spring. Wallen and Berens received the honors of calling the first game of the Sounders’ season, which turned out to be one of their favorite moments.

During halftime, Wallen and Berens had the opportunity to interview Sounders FC forward Andy Craven. Craven began his career with the Sounders S2 squad and was called up to Sounders FC during their regular season. Craven was easily one of Wallen’s favorite players to watch.

“It was like watching ‘The Office’ for a full season and then interviewing Steve Carell,” Wallen said.

Wallen and Berens said they feel like they went into the contest with the same mindset the Sounders S2 players have going into their own games.

The S2 organization is all about the upcoming players and getting those younger players ready for the big leagues.

“Payton and I are kind of those upcoming guys where we have the same mindset as they do on the field, but in the broadcast booth,” Wallen said.

This was the first time Wallen had commentated for soccer and the first time Berens had any experience broadcasting. The chemistry between the two helped them grow and compete for the commentator positions.

Berens has played soccer his entire life, and being a big Sounders fan, he understands the ins and outs of the organization.

Wallen already had broadcasting experience, which not only helped his own confidence, but gave Berens an opportunity to learn something he was unfamiliar with. Ideally, their roles matched their characteristics.

“For me, I really liked watching the other groups. I learned from their mistakes, which helped me a lot,” Berens said. “Mistakes happen, but for the most part Drew and I kept the mistakes to a minimum.”

Berens said he likes to focus on the analytical aspect of the game for his color guy personality. He looks up to the Sounders FC color commentator Kasey Keller, who has more of a dry personality.

“My broadcast style was statistical and analytical, and I tried to keep it that way for all the games,” Berens said.

Wallen said he looks up to ex-CBS commentator Gus Johnson, who is now the voice of the Milwaukee Bucks. One of Johnson’s calls during a March Madness basketball game actually inspired Wallen to become a sports broadcaster.

“I remember watching that Gonzaga-UCLA game as a kid, and after Gus Johnson yelled ‘ heartbreak city!’ I was hooked,” Wallen said.

Both Wallen and Berens believe they have a similar style to that of  Seattle Sounders commentators Kasey Keller and Ross Fletcher.

For example, Wallen tries to mimic Gus Johnson’s on-air personality; he’s outgoing, exciting and strong with his words. Berens is similar to ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit; he’s concise, understanding and thoughtful.

The style goes against the traditional way of commentating, where the color guy is exciting and outgoing,  and the play-by-play commentator is dry and concise.

Wallen and Berens, who are both undecided about their majors, are still uncertain where their broadcast careers will take them.

“I have always been interested in broadcasting, it seemed more like a dream, so I never really pursued it,” Berens said.

Wallen said he loves being a commentator, but says that his first love is really teaching and coaching.

Both agreed they will ride this to the end if the Sounders S2 job works out.

“I would love to do this every day for the rest of my life, it’s the coolest job in the world,” Berens said.

Before next season the Sounders organization is turning the voting over to the fans, who will vote for the pair of commentators they enjoyed listening to the most.

You can vote on the Seattle Sounders FC homepage under contests. You can also listen to Wallen and Berens on 88.1 The Burg’s Sports Central broadcast every Monday from 4-6 p.m.