After half a year, Yang stopped trying to escape and put all his attention into training, but Li's harsh methods remained relentless. "He is the one I punished most frequently in the whole team but he is also the one who made the greatest progress," Li said.

In April 2007, Li's club surprisingly won a silver medal in the Beijing Junior Baseball Championships after only seven months of intense training. In that tournament, Yang was the team's most valuable player.

Together with seven other players from Li's club, 16-year-old Yang signed with the Shanghai Eagles in the Chinese Baseball League in 2009.

Li brought Yang and five other children to visit Yankee Stadium in New York City in September 2010 to see the field of dreams in reality. Yang remarked that his dream felt much nearer after the experience. In 2011, Yang was recruited by the National Baseball Team.

Yang's achievements inspired Li to recruit more children from poor backgrounds.

"It is not for charity. It is to provide them an opportunity to change their lives," said Li.

The course reinforced Li's beliefs by showing how baseball can change the lives of troubled teenagers. He is going all out in his search for talent among orphans and the children of migrant workers.

Hao Jiaqi, one of Li's recruits from a village near Langfang in northern Hebei Province, joined Li's club in 2009. Hao's father was sentenced to death on criminal charges before the boy was even born and his mother left him to his disabled grandparents. Hao lived meagerly on food donated by neighbors and ate his fill for the first time after Li recruited him into the club.

"I can help you. I can't help your family. But you can," Li told Hao, who has since grown to be another star player.

The single spark

"I hope in the future I could be like coach Li, helping poor children as much as I can," said Bstan Dzin, an orphan from Tibet Autonomous Region. Dzin's idol is Ichiro Suzuki, who holds a number of major league batting records. The Japanese MLB player spent 12 seasons with the Seattle Mariners before becoming a free agent in 2012 and joining the New York Yankees. For Dzin, this big name might be a bit distant, but Li has confidence in every player on the team.

In August 2010, Li's club won the gold medal at the 28th Boys Nankyu Baseball World Championships in Japan, the first time a Chinese team has won the tournament in 11 years. The coach of the Japanese team visited Li's club and their rough accommodation and Spartan living conditions left an impression. Before leaving, the Japanese coach said to Li, "A single spark can start a prairie fire."

"I think this sentence properly describes the condition of baseball in China," said Li. "The sport has been developing in China for about 40 years. As long as we don't give up and make effort, I believe the future of baseball is very promising in this country."

"The Xinxing Longren club is unique. Li Wei is so dedicated and the boys work really hard. If there were more people like him, it would be much easier to develop the sport in China," said Shen Wei, head of the Chinese Baseball Association.

Li still can't make ends meet for the club. Only 11 students pay the full fees of nearly 20,000 yuan ($3,210) per year, which includes equipment, room and board as well as enrollment at Dacheng School, where the players keep up with a typical curriculum. These payments only meet half the expenses. Some of the parents who are financially able donated several air conditioners and a bus.

But the lack of finances has not deterred those who believe in Li's crusade. Four other coaches have joined him, including volunteers who receive a meager stipend of only 500 yuan ($80) a month.

Although the Chinese Basebal l Association does not offer the club financial aid, it does supply secondhand bats, gloves and balls.

"We don't expect everybody to grow up to be a baseball star, but we hope this experience can help the children to build a competitive spirit and teamwork, which are useful even after they leave the playground," Tian said.

The club's achievements earned Li an invitation from two schools in eastern Jiangsu Province's Wuxi City to set up another base for the club. Li plans to bring more poor children to the base in Wuxi.

"I am glad to create this opportunity for children from poor backgrounds," said Li. "I hope my players can also make a difference there one day."

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