Field of dreams: Ugandan baseballer pitching for the big league

The baseball pitch is shared with grazing cows, but the rustic conditions are no distraction for Ugandan major league hopeful Dennis Kasumba. 

The 18-year-old is off to play in a top-flight amateur baseball league in America this summer, the chance of a lifetime for an orphan raised in a slum who dreams of going pro.

"I am very, very happy. I can't explain my feelings, I feel blessed," said Kasumba, who comes from Gayaza, a town about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the capital Kampala, where he was raised in grinding poverty.

Spotted online after videos his exploits went viral, Kasumba received an invitation to the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft League, which starts on June 1 in the United States.

"Today I'm starting my Journey," Kasumba wrote on Twitter on May 28 alongside a video of family, friends and supporters waving him off at the airport. 

Determined to impress the scouts and do his coach and teammates proud, Kasumba has been fine-tuning his pitch and swing ahead of the MLB fixture where prospective stars are put through their paces.

Ahead of his departure, Kasumba trained day and night at Gayaza, running drills with a worn catcher's mitt and bat held together with tape at the local diamond.

Off the field, he keeps fit any way he can, using everything and anything at his disposal.

Puffing away in the equatorial sun, Kasumba runs through squats using barbells made of concrete and discarded car tyres, with water-filled plastic bottles taped to his legs for resistance.

Friends and relatives have filmed his sessions and posted them on social media, and Kasumba has attracted thousands of followers inspired by his grit and cheer.

- Hard beginnings -

Raised in Gayaza by his grandmother, Kasumba never knew his parents.

His mother abandoned him as an infant along with two siblings after their father, a soldier, died fighting anti-government rebels.

By the age of eight, he had dropped out of school to work for his meals, slaughtering animals in an abattoir until meeting volunteer coach John Bosco Sempa, who invited him to the local baseball pitch.

As his natural talent and determination became clear, Sempa encouraged his protege to promote his skills on social media, where the rising star found another source of motivation and support.

"It started like a joke, but now I am going to US for MLB," Kasumba told AFP.

It has not all been smooth sailing.

Kasumba was twice rejected for a visa to travel to the US before his application was at last granted in May.

"I am so excited," he said.

The quest to become a pro is a tall order in a country that has never produced a major league player, and where interest in baseball is dwarfed by that for football and athletics.

"We want Kasumba to play in the highest league in the world, that's our hope," said coach Sempa.

"If he plays (his) best, just as his heart says, he can get a chance."

But his remarkable journey represents a bigger win for the wider community, where Kasumba has become something of a local celebrity and an inspiration.

Many of the other kids scrambling about the dirt diamond in Gayaza are also orphans raised in desperate poverty, Sempa said.

"As a coach I'd love all our players to be successful. Kasumba's news is not only for himself but for our country," he added.

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© Agence France-Presse

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