As you've likely heard, we don't have any live-action contests to cover at LetsGoPeay.com right now. What we do have is free time; oodles and oodles of free time. Enough free time to swap oodles of emails with various people who would know to create a snapshot of the best players in Austin Peay softball history. We start our softball week with a two-way dynamo whose skills fit any era.

When it comes to talking about who was the best two-way Governors softball player in program history Lauren de Castro must be at, or near, the top of any list that you put together covering the program's first 35 years.

The Torrance, Calif., native is one of only two players in program history to finish their careers ranked in the Top 20 all-time in hits, home runs, RBI's, wins and strikeouts, all the while earning All-Ohio Valley Conference First-Team honors three times.

She is also the only Governors softball player to earn OVC Player and Pitcher of the Week multiple times during her career, splitting time in the outfield and at first base when she was not pitching.

And she did all of this on what was more-or-less one leg over her first three seasons, finally having to have surgery in the fall before her senior season to correct and alleviate the problem.

From the time she arrived on campus, de Castro was one of the most feared hitters in the OVC, leading the team in batting average all four years, finishing with the fourth-best career batting average (.347), while finishing as one of only three players to record over 200 hits, 100 runs scored, 100 RBIs and hit at least 25 home runs.

Overall, de Castro ended her career among the program's Top-10 in nine batting categories.

She also has the distinction of being the last Governors softball player to author a five-hit game, as well as being the last to hit an inside the park home run.

In the circle, de Castro's freshman year was cut short due to her leg problem that still allowed her to hit, but over her final three seasons led the team in ERA while posting team highs for wins, strikeouts and innings pitched her final two seasons.

Despite her leg problems and the truncated freshman season in the circle, de Castro finished in the program's Top 10 all-time in five categories, including wins, strikeouts and shutouts.

Bottom line, de Castro's legacy as one of the best two-way players in program history has and will stand the test of time.