needed eight from six but Elyse Villani, bowli

KATIE AND I spent a lot of time playing together. The earliest memories I have of Katie were playing at her house while my mom got her hair styled by Katies mom. Around age 7, I ended up playing baseball with her dad as my coach. Of course, Katie was on the team as well, and Coach Frank treated her the same way he treated everyone else. She was always the most energetic ballplayer, but she could be intense on occasion; I wouldnt be the first to call her a firecracker. However, regardless of the outcome of a days ballgame, she was always happy to be with her friends -- the team.I first learned there was something wrong with Katie when my mom told me she had collapsed and was in the hospital. I was barely 12 at the time. We learned later that she had a rare form of brain cancer. I talked to Katie on the phone, and it was clear she only saw chemotherapy treatment as a bump in the road. She was a confident girl, even in the face of adversity.Katies wish was to bring her old team -- some of her closest friends -- back?together to watch a Seattle Mariners baseball game. The wish was simple, and for Katie it was perfect because it combined the two things she loved: her friends and baseball. I was ecstatic when I learned I was going to see all of my friends again, but moreover, I would get to see Katie. Everything else was just icing on the cake.On Katies wish day, my former teammates gathered in the outfield at Safeco Field. They were told I would not be able to attend because I had moved to Franklin, Tennessee, the same year Katie and her family moved to eastern Oregon. Except on that day, I was actually standing behind the center-field wall. As the announcer told my friends there was a surprise waiting for them, the wall opened and I ran to Katie. The most memorable part of the entire day came as Katie and I were hugging. She couldnt believe that I was actually in front of her, which prompted me to repeatedly tell her, Im here! Im here!The rest of the day is summed up in the original video segment of her Wish. The next day, however, would be the last time I saw her as we played catch near her hotel. True to our nature, we got into a small competition of who can throw harder while tossing the ball around. It makes me happy that my last moments with her were baseball-related.My mother told me of Katies death when she picked me up from school in the car almost a year later. The reality of her death didnt settle in until a couple of weeks later while I was lying in bed and finally came to terms that my best friend had passed. Those who have felt a similar pain know that realization is not fun.I used to only be able to look at Katies Wish from a childs perspective. It used to be difficult for me to understand the importance of Katies Make-A-Wish experience in the context of everything else going on in her life at the time. As Ive grown older, Ive realized that being able to forget about illness for a day to just have fun is a priceless experience for a child and their family.Katie, you will always be my best friend. Discount Nike Free Shoes . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Nike Free Outlet .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. http://www.discountnikefree.com/ . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Cheap Nike Free For Sale . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Clearance Nike Free Running Shoes .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Australia women 242 (Perry 69, Bolton 63, Luus 4-37, van Niekerk 3-52) tied with South Africa women 242 (van Niekerk 81, Kapp 66)Scorecard and ball-by ball- details A fourth straight ODI fifty for Ellyse Perry, second consecutive for Nicole Bolton, a four-for from Suné Luus, and a match-changing all-round performance from Dane van Niekerk combined to a dramatic tie in the fourth ODI in Coffs Harbour. South Africa women needed eight off the last over and later five off two, when Masabata Klaas slapped a four but was run-out on the last ball as both teams were all out for 242 in only the fifth tie in womens ODIs. South Africa have still not beaten Australia in any format.South Africa were reeling in their chase at the score of 40 for 4, rattled by the Australian quicks and left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen. After Jonassen broke the opening stand, Perry bowled Lara Goodall, Rene Farrell bowled Luus and debutant Amanda-Jade Wellington had Mignon du Preez stumped with her very first ball. Kapp and van Niekerk joined forces that only steadied them but also brought the chase on track with a massive partnership that lasted 30.3 overs. Wellington would have had her second wicket, of van Niekerk, in the 16th over but Meg Lanning could not hold on to a low chance at slip after the ball flicked the keepers glove on the way.Kapp and van Niekerk scored 144 runs together, the third-highest stand for the fifth wicket overall, and took South Africa towards 200. While Kapp was more circumspect in her sixth ODI half-century, van Niekerk scored at more than run a ball against Jonassen, Perry and Farrell.It took a run-out to break the stand when Kapp backed up too much at the non-strikers end and walked back for a 104-ball 66, starting Australias fight back.ddddddddddddSouth Africa needed 57 off eight overs and Van Niekerks fours during her third ODI fifty brought the asking rate under six before Jonassen bowled her for 81. Another run-out and nine runs later, the visitors needed eight from six but Elyse Villani, bowling for the first time in her international career, conceded seven. When they needed one to win, Klaas struck a full delivery to midwicket but could not reach the non-strikers end on time.Australia had opted to bat and Bolton and Perry, who missed the last match with a groin injury, steered them for over 16 overs after Beth Mooney, who was promoted to open, and Lanning fell cheaply. Bolton and Perrys partnership yielded 80 runs before Luus dismissed Bolton, for 63, and Jonassen in her consecutive overs.Alex Blackwell then allied with Perry with a quick 35 off 30 but van Niekerk disturbed their lower order. Perry helped them cross 200 and took them to the last five overs before Luus sent her back too and van Niekerk struck on consecutive balls with the wickets of Alyssa and Villani. The stutter meant Australia struck only 26 runs in their last five overs as debutants Wellington and Tahlia McGrath were dismissed off consecutive balls in the last over.Luus finished with 4 for 37 from her 7.5 overs and Van Niekerk returned figures of 3 for 52 from nine overs. ' ' '