The entertainment and baseball industries say goodbye to a young shining star who was just getting started in her career. Sammi Kane Kraft, a talented child actor from New Jersey, has died.

Sammi Kane Kraft was very proficient in athletics and baseball. Her talents with these helped land her an acting role in the 2005 remake of Bad News Bears, a story about Thornton, a little league coach who attempts to turn his team of misfits into champions. In this remake, Kraft performed the role of Amanda Whurlitzer, who was performed by Tatum O’Neal in the original movie.

Apart from her acting career, she also wanted to always take her baseball triumphs to the next level. Kraft competed in the Junior Olympics, and wanted to be involved in the Olympic Games, telling from the quote below from IMDb:

“I love acting, but my real long-term goal is to compete in the Olympics.”

Unfortunately, Sammi Kane Kraft died on Tuesday, October 9th, 2012, after being involved in a car accident while being a passenger in a speeding car of a drunk driver on the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles (source: Los Angeles Times). Many fans of Kraft’s budding career have left their respects via Twitter: