Sammi Kane Kraft, the real-life baseball player who portrayed Amanda Whurlitzer in the 2005 remake of Bad News Bears, died in a car accident in Los Angeles, E! News reports.
The athlete and actress was 20 years old. Authorities told E! that Kraft was the passenger in an Audi "traveling at a high rate of speed" when it rear-ended a big rig and was then hit by another car. Kraft was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The driver, 21-year-old Molly Kate Adams, survived with moderate injuries, and was arrested for suspected felony drunk drinking.
Kraft played the tomboy character originated by Tatum O'Neal in the original 1976 Bad News Bears.
"I could never fill Tatum O'Neal's shoes," Kraft (who had a 70 mph fastball) said in 2005, "but I tried to make the role my own."
California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
source
