Marlins mourn loss of star pitcher Jose Fernandez

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jose Fernandez, a bright young star for the Miami Marlins baseball team, died in a boating accident this morning.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Fernandez, 24, was one of three people killed when their 32-foot boat crashed into a jetty at the entrance of Miami Harbor.

The Coast Guard found the boat capsized this morning around 3:30 a.m. Fernandez was riding in a boat with two of his friends when the driver ran into a jetty.

Authorities don’t believe drugs or alcohol influenced the crash.

Sunday’s scheduled game against the Atlanta Braves was cancelled as the Marlins mourned Fernandez’s death.

“Jose is a member of this family for all time, and member of the city of Miami and all of South Florida, all of Cuban Americans,” team president David Samson said. “His story is representative of a story of hope and of love and of faith and that no one will ever let that story die.”

The Marlins ace pitcher was originally from Cuba. He tried defecting four times to the United States, and on the last “successful” attempt, Fernandez, who was 15 at the time, jumped to save his drowning mother.

Fernandez settled in Tampa and it was in high school there that he honed his skills.

The Marlins picked Fernandez 14th overall in the 2011 draft and he was in the majors by 2013.

Fernandez’s last game was September 20. He pitched eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win.

Other stadiums across Major League Baseball held moments of silence to pay tribute to Fernandez.

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