LOS ANGELES - A 20-year-old woman who appeared in the 2005 remake of "Bad News Bears" was killed in an apparent alcohol-related car crash on the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The crash which claimed the life of Sammi Kane Kraft, formerly of Studio City, took place about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday on the westbound Santa Monica Freeway, east of Crenshaw Boulevard, according to CHP Officer Christian Craycraft.
The accident, which involved two cars and a big rig, also left 21-year-old Molly Adams of Santa Monica, the driver of the car in which Kraft was riding, slightly injured and under arrest for suspicion of felony drunken driving, Craycraft said.
"She was still being booked on Wednesday and there could be additional charges filed against Adams," Craycraft said.
According to the CHP accident report, the Audi driven by Adams was traveling at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended a big rig truck and freight trailer that was going the speed limit.
The unnamed 38-year-old truck driver was taken to California Hospital Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries.
After Adams' car crashed into the big rig, it was then struck by a Scion as it stood disabled across the Nos. 3 and 4 lanes, according to the CHP. The Scion driver was not injured.
Both Kraft and Adams were trapped in their car when firefighters arrived on the scene, according to the CHP. Adams was taken to California
Hospital Medical Center for treatment of moderate injuries before she was booked.
Kraft was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, according to the CHP.
Kraft won the role of star pitcher Amanda Whurlitzer, played by Tatum O'Neal in the 1976 version, "The Bad News Bears," after she wowed the director with her 75 mph fastball, according to a 2005 profile in the Daily News.
At the time, she lived in Studio City and was occasionally pitching in youth baseball leagues in Burbank, Northridge and other parts of the Valley - but often losing the pitching mound to a coach's son.
"I got to pitch maybe one or two times a season, and I'd strike all the boys out, pretty much, but none of the coaches would let me pitch again," the then 13-year-old New York native told columnist Tom Hoffarth.
Kraft tagged along with a friend to the "Bears" casting call and then convinced her mother to let her try out too. She impressed director Richard Linklater with her pitching skills and secured the role after winning over actor Billy Bob Thornton, who told Linklater she was "the real deal."
It was the only professional acting role for Kraft, who was recording and performing music as part of the San Francisco-based garage folk group Scary Girls at the time of her death.
