Sammi Kane Kraft, who played the girl pitcher in the 2005 remake of the comedy Bad News Bears, died early Tuesday in a car accident in Los Angeles. She was 20.
Kraft was a passenger in an Audi that was on the westbound I-10 freeway at about 1:30 a.m. when it rear-ended a big-rig and was then struck by another car, the California Highway Patrol told the Los Angeles Times.
The 21-year-old driver of the Audi was treated for moderate injuries and arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving, the CHP said.
Take Me Out: Baseball's Best Movies
Kraft was 13 when she played Amanda Whurlitzer in Bad News Bears, the remake of the 1976 Paramount comedy about a manager of a misfit Little League team. Tatum O’Neal starred as Amanda opposite Walter Matthau in the original; Billy Bob Thornton coached the kids in the remake, directed by Richard Linklater.
Kraft, who could throw a 75 mph fastball, was discovered on a diamond in Los Angeles, where her family had moved from New York so she could play baseball year-round. Bad News Bears was the only film she ever appeared in.