Apr 10, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

Bentworth softball coach Jack Cramer has been around the game for a long time, and he said he hasn’t seen a talent quite like Sydney Gonglik.

Unfortunately, it will be a little bit before Gonglik is pitching for Bentworth again.

Gonglik, the Bearcats’ sensational sophomore, is dealing with a shoulder injury that will require rest.

She’s able to play in the field and hit, but right now she’s shut down from pitching duties.

“She’s going to be on the shelf for a while for pitching,” Cramer said. “She has a nagging shoulder injury that just doesn’t seem to want to straighten up. The only thing that will do it is rest, so she can play, but she’s just not going to be able to pitch for a while.”

Cramer is hopeful Gonglik can return to pitch in the playoffs.

Gonglik is attracting interest from major college programs across the country. She’s posted on social media letters she’s received from college softball programs, like LSU, Florida State, Minnesota, Auburn and Tennessee, among others.

The injury first surfaced during Bentworth’s season opening trip to The Ripken Experience in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

“She started our first game and did well against them, but in her next start she made it to about the third inning and her shoulder started tightening up on her,” Cramer said. “It was a nasty, cold rainy day, so we just pulled her. She went to the doctor’s last week and they told her to rest it, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

The good news for Bentworth is Gonglik can still contribute with her bat.

She’s had an excellent start to the plate hitting .476 with a double, six triples and six RBI.

Cramer knows Gonglik wants to be pitching, but is happy she can still contribute in other ways.

“I told her the other day, at this stage I’m more interested in how Syd the person is going to be more so than Syd the athlete,” Cramer said. “When you play sports at any level injuries happen and unless you address them the right way, it can be something that keeps popping up and bothering you. We’re good with where we’re at.

“These are life lessons and she’s still a young kid. I know she’s experiencing things right now for the first time like not being able to go out there and be a dominant pitcher, but at least she can still be a player that still gets on the field.”

Another positive for the Bearcats is that they have two experienced pitchers that can fill the void in senior Willow Eckels and junior Nora Lindley.

Eckels allowed one run over five innings and had three strikeouts in a 12-1 win over California Wednesday.

“Willow and Nora play travel ball and pitch for their travel ball teams in the summer, so they’re capable,” Cramer said. “It’s not like some of these teams where you lose a pitcher the caliber of Syd and you don’t have anyone else that can step in. I told them as long as (Gonglik) is on the shelf everyone else needs to step up. If you play good defense and hit the ball, you can play with anyone.”

Bentworth returned its entire starting lineup from a team that made it to the WPIAL Class 2A championship and PIAA quarterfinals last season.

Sofia Gaussa, Gonglik, Lindley and Kayla O’Dell are all hitting .400 or better and Zoey McDonald, who hit nearly .600 last year, is also a huge threat in the lineup.

The poor weather to start the spring season has created a busy upcoming week. The Bearcats (1-0, 4-3) are scheduled to play Brownsville Friday weather permitting and have three more Class 2A Section 4 games next week with Washington, Waynesburg and Frazier.

Cramer said the team will know better how they stack up after those four games but is confident his girls will be ready to go.

“Until Syd gets back out there, we have to play good defense and hit the ball,” Cramer said. “We know we’re good enough to hit with anybody and as long as we play defense and keep those extra base runners from walks and errors that will come around to score and beat you.”