Bayou bound: Bentworth’s Gonglik commits to LSU
Mark Marietta/For the Observer
Sydney Gonglik has always dreamed of pitching in the NCAA College Softball World Series and she feels like she has found the program that can take her there.
Gonglik, a junior at Bentworth, committed to LSU on Sunday after taking a visit to the campus in Baton Rouge on Friday.
“The College World Series has always been a goal of mine and I’m hoping that I can help (LSU) get there,” Gonglik said. “That’s something I’ve always wanted to do and that’s why I’m going to the program that I’m going to.”
Gonglik is the 10th-ranked junior in the country by on3.com and the top recruit in Pennsylvania. Her fastball was recently clocked at 72 miles per hour. The fastest recorded pitch in softball history is 79.4 by Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens in May.
Naturally Gonglik received plenty of interest from schools all across the country.
Her commitment to LSU pushed the Tigers to being on3.com’s No. 1 recruiting class for 2027. Five of the top 100 recruits for 2027 are committed to LSU.
LSU also has on3.com’s top ranked recruiting class for 2026.
Gonglik first went to LSU in the winter for a softball camp. The visit to Baton Rouge over the weekend sealed the deal.
“It just felt like home since I first stepped onto the campus,” Gonglik said. “The team…the players and the coaches are all great people. They have a very good support system. The campus is very pretty. It’s clean. The facilities are huge.”
The recruiting process finished off an interesting year for Gonglik.
This spring was the first time she dealt with an injury in her career. She had a sore shoulder that kept her out of the circle for most of the high school season. She was still able to hit, but didn’t pitch until right before the WPIAL playoffs.
Gonglik went to a back-to-throwing program and learned plenty about herself during the rehab process.
“The biggest thing I learned is to take recovery seriously,” Gonglik said.
Once travel ball season started, Gonglik was able to pitch more consistently for the Ohio Outlaws 09 National team.
She battled some rust, but overall came out of the summer with a positive outlook.
“It was off and on,” Gonglik said. “My first tournament wasn’t the greatest. I changed a few things and I shouldn’t have, but then after that I did pretty decent. It wasn’t my best season, because I think I was just trying to prove myself so much after getting hurt, but I still think I did pretty well.”
After getting a full travel season under her belt, Gonglik feels like she’s returned to the point where she was as freshman at Bentworth when she dominated in the circle to lead the Bearcats to an appearance in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game and state quarterfinals.
And she’s probably even stronger. After all, she recently made a radar gun read 72 miles per hour.
“I was excited, but at the same time, now that’s the standard I have to hold myself up to,” Gonglik said about hitting 72. “I have to continue to work to build myself up, so I can throw that hard consistently.”