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More from Sam Gwosdz
Love On First Base: Meeting At The Combine
A collabaration between 
bossbull and myself! Features Marcos Hererra, Sabina Zula and several other FLB characters. Enjoy!
Don't forget to give Betsie some love too!: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10496234/
2013 Rookie-Veteran Combine. A time when all players, new and old, can get together to practice, train, and prove their worth to watching team managers. Sabina had never imagined she’d ever attend such a thing; and not just to watch, but to participate. And in historic Wrigley Field to boot. The ivy-covered outfield walls and green hand-operated center field scoreboard, topped with streams of team pennants, oozed history. And the FLB was now part of it.
The soft-spoken cheetah looked out over the field with a touch of hesitation in her bright blue eyes before she spotted a small group of fellow rookies stretching nearby. She thought of joining them before remembering some of the competitive glares she’d received in the women’s locker room while changing. This definitely wasn’t a place for her to be meek, despite her usual nature.
Inhaling a calming breath, she exhaled it slowly and felt herself relax before moving off to a patch of grass where she decided to start preparing for the practices ahead. The Isabelline cheetah started with some basic yoga stretches, closing her eyes and remaining focused on her own movements. Her breathing. Inhale....exhale...slow and easy.
Sabina straightened with a steady inhale, and her long lashes fluttered open with a calm exhale; she felt good about this. She felt ready to play her position and do it well. A delicate smile on her lips, she bent to pick up her glove from the grass, her tail twitching delicately as she straightened again and slipped the lefty mitt over her paw. Her casual gaze caught sight of a fellow cheetah, but she merely ignored him for the moment as she heard a whistle and moved towards the first base with purpose in her stride.
The grass felt good on her paws, and the red dust felt just as good, her claws digging into it almost thoughtfully as she took her rightful place on the diamond.
That cheetah, a more recognized yellow color, was dressed in a navy batting practice uniform with orange, red and yellow stripes running down the sleeves. His name, Hererra, and number, 1, made no mistake of who he was. Marcos Hererra, star center fielder for the World Champion Charleston Swamp Foxes, was here to assist the proceedings with his manager, Larry Howe. The older cheetah, also dressed in a the Charleston batting practice uniform, asked Hererra to come because he would be a perfect test runner for pickoffs and stolen base attempts.
And who was Marcos to argue that? The cheetah had set FLB records with 60 stolen bases last season and 12 in the Wild World Series. Though it was practice, the strong Dominican seemed itching to go as he jogged in place for a few moments then stretched. He couldn’t help but notice the Isabelline cheetah himself. Jogging back, he lightly tapped his manager on the arm.
“‘Ey Skip, who’s that cheetah over there?” he asked, his accent obvious. Howe looked over and then gazed at his clipboard.
“Looks to be... Sabina Zula. Usually plays on first,” Howe mused before gazing up at Marcos, who was starting to look a little wistfully at Sabina. Howe shook his head and smiled, chuckling a little.
“Son, just do your job.”
Hererra smiled back. “I always do my job.”
Sabina could feel eyes on her, twitching her ears in Marcos’ direction and her tail giving a somewhat annoyed flick; she was used to constantly having eyes on her, but she calmly ignored the male as she focused on the task at hand as several other players moved into position to start up some practice.
The rookies had been assigned to play defense for the first round, and Sabina was more than ready as she absently clenched her claws into the dirt and prepared herself for the start of this amazing experience. She would do her best, and she smirked a little at the thought of the other cheetah; she’d certainly do her best to not let him past her base.
Despite knowing that there were managers for all the teams dotted about the place, watching, calculating, waiting to see if there was any real talent in this year’s batch of draftees, Sabina was totally at ease as she waited for the veteran players to join them. From the corner of her eye she spotted Marco plucking his cleats from the edge of the dirt and slip them on, grabbing a bat.
“Alright, people!” Howe announced. “We’ll start off with a bunt play and then you’ll work on your pickoff move, okay, LaRocca?” he said. The black cat on the mound grinned and tipped his cap. “Sure thing, Skipper!”
Marcos smirked. The kid on the mound seemed energetic. He would be in a second.
LaRocca threw a nice easy fastball and Marcos squared around to bunt. He tapped the ball down the third base line and took off running. What speed! Rookie Genji Mijumoto charged the bunt, but the cheetah was already three-quarters of the way to first by the time he got to the deadened ball.
Sabina growled a little at the bunt play, and the slow reaction of her fellow rookie, twitching a little and switching her attention from Genji to Marcos and back again. She could feel her heart race with the sudden thrill of it. “Bloody hell...” She murmured under her breath
Marcos slowed to a jog and stopped, well, safe. The cheetah gave her a sly wink as he started to lead off. Sabina, meanwhile, merely gave Marcos a rather irritated look, rolling her eyes and growling low under her breath. Shifting a little bit in preparation to pick off the attempted steal, there was a fire in her bright blue eyes and she was careful to watch the ball and her opponent.
“Now pickoffs! Let’s see how you hold the runner, LaRocca!”
Not to make it too difficult, Marcos gave him a medium-size lead, and dove back when LaRocca stepped off and pitched the ball over. Brushing himself off, he nodded at Sabina and took a slightly bigger lead. Trey went to the top of his windup and looked back, then quickly turned and threw. It was a great move that time. Marcos’s reaction was just fine, but as he ran back, he tripped over his own feet at the end of the crossover step and fell forward!
Sabina had caught the throw with deft skill and was prepared to pick-off her fellow feline, only to give a yowl of surprise as her pick-off turned into a tangle of limbs. She hit the ground, the ball tumbling from her glove as she found the bigger cheetah on top of her. As the shock dissipated, she growled a little at the man on top of her. She would’ve been able to tag him out had the ball not rolled away from her, but as it was, she shoved at the larger figure a little bit.
LaRocca couldn’t help but laugh, and some of the other players did so good-naturedly. Howe rubbed his muzzle, but revealed a smile. “Well, Hererra, that’s one way to get back to first,” he said, trying to suppress a bit of laughter himself.
The brown-haired cheetah smiled down at her. “Lo siento, guepardita. ¿Estás bien? ” he said gently, standing up, and offering his paw to help her up. Sabina hesitated to take Marcos’ offered paw, but she finally did and got to her feet, brushing herself off and shaking her head a little as she still growled.
“I don’t speak Spanish.” She said calmly with her own accent obvious, turning and bending over to pick up the ball and deftly toss it back towards the pitcher with a snort of disfavour. “I should think a veteran would keep better track of his feet...” Sabina commented with a bit of a taunting smirk on her features.
Marcos smirked a little. She was pretty sassy. “I asked if you were alright,” he said. His accent was very heavy, which indicated English was his second language.
“I’d be better if I’d managed to get you tagged-out before you tackled me.” Sabina continued with the sass; she’d worked hard to become good at this sport after changing countries and lifestyles, and she was not pleased about her first chance to show off her skills was ruined by a stumbling runner. And one that should’ve been more careful with himself; an injury for a cheetah was a life-ruiner.
It was rare that Marcos stumbled: he was the FLB’s active base-stealing leader. It was his reckless attitude that led him to be so successful, so he thought he could take a few risks every now and then. Still, he nodded when she made that comment.
“Jou and so many others. How ‘bout I take jou out for dinner later? Apologize?” he asked, finishing with a smile that actually seemed sincere.
“Hm, you don’t think I could’ve tagged you out?” Sabina said with a bit of a laugh; she certainly would’ve, had Marcos not tripped. But she decided to drop that for now at the offer of an apology dinner. Shrugging her slender shoulders, she offered Marcos a rather sweet smile. “Well, I think you owe me at least that much for knocking me on my ass. It hurt.” She said with a little bit of a pout, a teasing tone to her voice as she brushed some more red dust from the seat of her pants.
Marcos laughed a little. “Again, sorry,” he said. Howe clapped his paws.
“Hey, Marcos, if you’re done playing ‘Love Connection’, we need to keep moving here!”
“Sí, Skip!” Macros yelled back, laughing at his little joke. Howe had worked with Marcos since he came to the team five seasons ago; Larry was like a second father to him.
Sabina snorted at the ‘Love Connection’ joke; like she’d ever be stumbling over herself for a guy like Marcos Hererra. But she certainly looked forward to getting treated to dinner after the combine tonight and was promptly back to her base and ready to play again, but not before flicking her tail against Marcos’ muzzle.
“Time to focus on the game again. Watch your feet this time.” She taunted with a smirk before settling in to continue with the game and try her best to show the league what she was made of.
Marcos raised his eyebrow as she flicked his muzzle with her tail. He chuckled a little and straightened the batting helmet on his head as Nanu Lycopolis took the mound and got a fresh baseball to attempt his paw at pickoff throws.
It was going to be a fun evening, Marcos thought.
Marcos Hererra, Larry Howe, Trey LaRocca ©
sam-gwosdz
Sabina Zula, icon © bossbull
Genji Mijumoto, Nanu Lycopolis,
flb © 
coyote42
bossbull and myself! Features Marcos Hererra, Sabina Zula and several other FLB characters. Enjoy!Don't forget to give Betsie some love too!: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10496234/
2013 Rookie-Veteran Combine. A time when all players, new and old, can get together to practice, train, and prove their worth to watching team managers. Sabina had never imagined she’d ever attend such a thing; and not just to watch, but to participate. And in historic Wrigley Field to boot. The ivy-covered outfield walls and green hand-operated center field scoreboard, topped with streams of team pennants, oozed history. And the FLB was now part of it.
The soft-spoken cheetah looked out over the field with a touch of hesitation in her bright blue eyes before she spotted a small group of fellow rookies stretching nearby. She thought of joining them before remembering some of the competitive glares she’d received in the women’s locker room while changing. This definitely wasn’t a place for her to be meek, despite her usual nature.
Inhaling a calming breath, she exhaled it slowly and felt herself relax before moving off to a patch of grass where she decided to start preparing for the practices ahead. The Isabelline cheetah started with some basic yoga stretches, closing her eyes and remaining focused on her own movements. Her breathing. Inhale....exhale...slow and easy.
Sabina straightened with a steady inhale, and her long lashes fluttered open with a calm exhale; she felt good about this. She felt ready to play her position and do it well. A delicate smile on her lips, she bent to pick up her glove from the grass, her tail twitching delicately as she straightened again and slipped the lefty mitt over her paw. Her casual gaze caught sight of a fellow cheetah, but she merely ignored him for the moment as she heard a whistle and moved towards the first base with purpose in her stride.
The grass felt good on her paws, and the red dust felt just as good, her claws digging into it almost thoughtfully as she took her rightful place on the diamond.
That cheetah, a more recognized yellow color, was dressed in a navy batting practice uniform with orange, red and yellow stripes running down the sleeves. His name, Hererra, and number, 1, made no mistake of who he was. Marcos Hererra, star center fielder for the World Champion Charleston Swamp Foxes, was here to assist the proceedings with his manager, Larry Howe. The older cheetah, also dressed in a the Charleston batting practice uniform, asked Hererra to come because he would be a perfect test runner for pickoffs and stolen base attempts.
And who was Marcos to argue that? The cheetah had set FLB records with 60 stolen bases last season and 12 in the Wild World Series. Though it was practice, the strong Dominican seemed itching to go as he jogged in place for a few moments then stretched. He couldn’t help but notice the Isabelline cheetah himself. Jogging back, he lightly tapped his manager on the arm.
“‘Ey Skip, who’s that cheetah over there?” he asked, his accent obvious. Howe looked over and then gazed at his clipboard.
“Looks to be... Sabina Zula. Usually plays on first,” Howe mused before gazing up at Marcos, who was starting to look a little wistfully at Sabina. Howe shook his head and smiled, chuckling a little.
“Son, just do your job.”
Hererra smiled back. “I always do my job.”
Sabina could feel eyes on her, twitching her ears in Marcos’ direction and her tail giving a somewhat annoyed flick; she was used to constantly having eyes on her, but she calmly ignored the male as she focused on the task at hand as several other players moved into position to start up some practice.
The rookies had been assigned to play defense for the first round, and Sabina was more than ready as she absently clenched her claws into the dirt and prepared herself for the start of this amazing experience. She would do her best, and she smirked a little at the thought of the other cheetah; she’d certainly do her best to not let him past her base.
Despite knowing that there were managers for all the teams dotted about the place, watching, calculating, waiting to see if there was any real talent in this year’s batch of draftees, Sabina was totally at ease as she waited for the veteran players to join them. From the corner of her eye she spotted Marco plucking his cleats from the edge of the dirt and slip them on, grabbing a bat.
“Alright, people!” Howe announced. “We’ll start off with a bunt play and then you’ll work on your pickoff move, okay, LaRocca?” he said. The black cat on the mound grinned and tipped his cap. “Sure thing, Skipper!”
Marcos smirked. The kid on the mound seemed energetic. He would be in a second.
LaRocca threw a nice easy fastball and Marcos squared around to bunt. He tapped the ball down the third base line and took off running. What speed! Rookie Genji Mijumoto charged the bunt, but the cheetah was already three-quarters of the way to first by the time he got to the deadened ball.
Sabina growled a little at the bunt play, and the slow reaction of her fellow rookie, twitching a little and switching her attention from Genji to Marcos and back again. She could feel her heart race with the sudden thrill of it. “Bloody hell...” She murmured under her breath
Marcos slowed to a jog and stopped, well, safe. The cheetah gave her a sly wink as he started to lead off. Sabina, meanwhile, merely gave Marcos a rather irritated look, rolling her eyes and growling low under her breath. Shifting a little bit in preparation to pick off the attempted steal, there was a fire in her bright blue eyes and she was careful to watch the ball and her opponent.
“Now pickoffs! Let’s see how you hold the runner, LaRocca!”
Not to make it too difficult, Marcos gave him a medium-size lead, and dove back when LaRocca stepped off and pitched the ball over. Brushing himself off, he nodded at Sabina and took a slightly bigger lead. Trey went to the top of his windup and looked back, then quickly turned and threw. It was a great move that time. Marcos’s reaction was just fine, but as he ran back, he tripped over his own feet at the end of the crossover step and fell forward!
Sabina had caught the throw with deft skill and was prepared to pick-off her fellow feline, only to give a yowl of surprise as her pick-off turned into a tangle of limbs. She hit the ground, the ball tumbling from her glove as she found the bigger cheetah on top of her. As the shock dissipated, she growled a little at the man on top of her. She would’ve been able to tag him out had the ball not rolled away from her, but as it was, she shoved at the larger figure a little bit.
LaRocca couldn’t help but laugh, and some of the other players did so good-naturedly. Howe rubbed his muzzle, but revealed a smile. “Well, Hererra, that’s one way to get back to first,” he said, trying to suppress a bit of laughter himself.
The brown-haired cheetah smiled down at her. “Lo siento, guepardita. ¿Estás bien? ” he said gently, standing up, and offering his paw to help her up. Sabina hesitated to take Marcos’ offered paw, but she finally did and got to her feet, brushing herself off and shaking her head a little as she still growled.
“I don’t speak Spanish.” She said calmly with her own accent obvious, turning and bending over to pick up the ball and deftly toss it back towards the pitcher with a snort of disfavour. “I should think a veteran would keep better track of his feet...” Sabina commented with a bit of a taunting smirk on her features.
Marcos smirked a little. She was pretty sassy. “I asked if you were alright,” he said. His accent was very heavy, which indicated English was his second language.
“I’d be better if I’d managed to get you tagged-out before you tackled me.” Sabina continued with the sass; she’d worked hard to become good at this sport after changing countries and lifestyles, and she was not pleased about her first chance to show off her skills was ruined by a stumbling runner. And one that should’ve been more careful with himself; an injury for a cheetah was a life-ruiner.
It was rare that Marcos stumbled: he was the FLB’s active base-stealing leader. It was his reckless attitude that led him to be so successful, so he thought he could take a few risks every now and then. Still, he nodded when she made that comment.
“Jou and so many others. How ‘bout I take jou out for dinner later? Apologize?” he asked, finishing with a smile that actually seemed sincere.
“Hm, you don’t think I could’ve tagged you out?” Sabina said with a bit of a laugh; she certainly would’ve, had Marcos not tripped. But she decided to drop that for now at the offer of an apology dinner. Shrugging her slender shoulders, she offered Marcos a rather sweet smile. “Well, I think you owe me at least that much for knocking me on my ass. It hurt.” She said with a little bit of a pout, a teasing tone to her voice as she brushed some more red dust from the seat of her pants.
Marcos laughed a little. “Again, sorry,” he said. Howe clapped his paws.
“Hey, Marcos, if you’re done playing ‘Love Connection’, we need to keep moving here!”
“Sí, Skip!” Macros yelled back, laughing at his little joke. Howe had worked with Marcos since he came to the team five seasons ago; Larry was like a second father to him.
Sabina snorted at the ‘Love Connection’ joke; like she’d ever be stumbling over herself for a guy like Marcos Hererra. But she certainly looked forward to getting treated to dinner after the combine tonight and was promptly back to her base and ready to play again, but not before flicking her tail against Marcos’ muzzle.
“Time to focus on the game again. Watch your feet this time.” She taunted with a smirk before settling in to continue with the game and try her best to show the league what she was made of.
Marcos raised his eyebrow as she flicked his muzzle with her tail. He chuckled a little and straightened the batting helmet on his head as Nanu Lycopolis took the mound and got a fresh baseball to attempt his paw at pickoff throws.
It was going to be a fun evening, Marcos thought.
Marcos Hererra, Larry Howe, Trey LaRocca ©
sam-gwosdzSabina Zula, icon ©
bossbullGenji Mijumoto, Nanu Lycopolis,
flb © 
coyote42
Category All / Miscellaneous
Species Cheetah
Size 100 x 104px
File Size 34.7 kB
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