True fans of the sport know it.

It's just too bad so few others do.

You want excitement without the long delays between pitches like in Major League Baseball?

You want a display of athletes at the top of their game and accomplishing seemingly inhuman feats?

You want to see players laying it all on the line for no other reason than their desire to win?

Check out college softball.

Yes, college softball.

It puts the MLB to shame.

The 2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament bracket came out Sunday. It wasn't nationally televised and there was no real “bracketology” going on when the field of 64 was announced. Some familiar schools got familiar seeds – Oklahoma got the top overall seed and UCLA the No. 2.

That hardly matters, though.

Anything can happen in this tournament.

The No. 1 overall seed has won the national title just five times since the format changed in 2005. That makes it entertainingly unpredictable — even with a seemingly unbeatable team in the Sooners in the field.

Oklahoma has won 39 consecutive games, just eight shy of the Division I record of 47.

Yet in this tourney, the Sooners could be vulnerable.

Why?

Because every team vying for a national title has a special player.

Florida has a pitcher, Kelly Barnhill, who has won 30 games this season. She was the national player of the year last year. She throws a 75 mph fastball.

That doesn't sound that menacing, but consider where she is throwing it from – only 43 feet from home plate. Convert that to a major league mound and Barnhill is bringing 105-mile-per-hour heat.

It's just a streak of yellow to hitters. A blur. Jordan Hicks wishes he threw that hard. Aroldis Chapman is envious. Pirates' closer Felipe Vazquez bows to her.

I'd wager that Mike Trout would have trouble getting around on Barnhill's heat. And forget any Pirate.

Yet Barnhill is far from invincible.

Mississippi State's Mia Davidson has smashed 25 home runs in just 54 games. She's slugging .917 — and that's good for only fourth in the nation.

There are incredible teams and preposterously good players in this tournament.

What is sad, though, is that once their careers are over, seldom will they be heard from again.

That's because there is no real high-profile professional league for them to display their skills.

Sure, there's the National Pro Fastpitch league, but I'd be willing to bet a vast majority of sports fans have never heard of the NPF.

This is where Major League Baseball could step up like the NBA once did.

The NBA Board of Governors formed the WNBA in 1996. The WNBA has flourished since. Each team drew nearly 8,000 fans per game this past season and the playoffs were exciting and riveting.

The MLB could do the same, forming a pro fastpitch softball league, and following the same roadmap the NBA did when it began the WNBA.

It would finally bring attention to the immense talent that is on display on softball fields all over the country, not just in Division I, but at all levels.

With all the talent on the Butler County area softball fields, wouldn't it be special to see one of them play professionally one day and become a household name?

They deserve it. Softball deserves it. Fans deserve to see it.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle