Wake Forest Athletics
Lary Sorensen Named to Football Broadcast Team
8/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Lary Sorensen, a veteran radio and TV broadcaster and former Major League Baseball all-star, has been named as the football radio color commentator for the Wake Forest football broadcasts. Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman made the announcement today.
Sorensen will make his debut alongside veteran play by play voice Stan Cotten and sideline reporter Dave Goren when the Demon Deacons open the 2017 season on August 31 at home against Presbyterian at BB&T Field.
Sorensen has extensive broadcast experience across all sports. He has served as a producer for NFL Live pregame shows hosted by Bob Costas and worked as an analyst with ESPN calling College World Series and MLB games.
Sorensen began his broadcasting career while still playing major league baseball, working as a sports reporter and anchor for WTMJ in Milwaukee during the offseason. He continued to advance his broadcasting career as a reporter on the Michigan football pregame show and as a sideline reporter for the Wolverines' broadcasts. From 1990-94 Sorensen was an ESPN baseball commentator and college baseball analyst where he worked with Mike Patrick and Tim Brando. From 1995-98 he worked alongside Frank Beckmann calling Detroit Tigers games for WJR radio in Detroit. Sorensen has also served as the co-host of a morning drive time radio show on WDFN in Detroit, the nation's ninth-largest radio market.
Sorensen, a native of Clinton Township, Mich. and a former high school quarterback, attended the University of Michigan where he played baseball and was an eighth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1976 MLB Draft. Sorensen enjoyed a 13-year professional career including 11 major league seasons in which he compiled a career record of 93-103 with a 4.15 ERA, 69 complete games and 10 shutouts. In 1978, Sorensen went 18-12 with the Brewers and was named to the American League All-Star team where he threw three shutout innings.
His major league career included stints with Cleveland, Oakland, St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs, Montreal and San Francisco. The right-hander retired following the 1988 season when he pitched for the Giants.
Sorensen, 61, has been a part of Wake Forest's baseball broadcast team since 2014, serving as the color analyst alongside Cotten for the Demon Deacons' run to the NCAA Regional in 2016 and Super Regional in 2017.
"This is a very exciting and promising time for all of Wake Forest Athletics and it's an honor to have been chosen to help spread the message through the football broadcasts," said Sorensen. "Ron gave me a terrific opportunity four years ago and I am thankful to expand that role. Stan has not only been a wonderful and talented partner but also a great friend, and I think our love of all the games and the program will be evident in our broadcasts. Great games make for great broadcasts, and this football team appears ready to kick off the 2017-2018 school year with a bang!"
"Lary has been a great addition to our baseball broadcasts over the last four years," said Wellman. "During that time, Lary's work ethic, preparation and attention to detail has been impressive. He is very knowledgeable in all sports and his years of experience behind a microphone will make him a great addition to our broadcast team this fall."
Wake Forest's broadcast team includes the veteran Cotten who will be in his 22nd year of calling Demon Deacon football. Sideline reporter Dave Goren returns for his 13th season.
"It's been great working with Lary and getting to know him personally for four years now," said Cotten. "He's a terrific broadcaster and communicator -- a real pro, and on top of that he's fallen in love with Wake Forest. He'll be a big asset as we strive to tell the Demon Deacon football story."
