Baseball player Oscar Taveras was mourned by a crowd in the Dominican Republic.

The 22-year-old athlete, who died in a car crash on Sunday, had a funeral in Sousa. The crowd first gathered at a church before the burial.

Several of his St. Louis Cardinals teammates attended the ceremony, such as Matt Carpenter, Carlos Martinez and general manager John Mozeliak.

"He was my brother, he was my friend, we were always together anytime we went out," Martinez said.

Taveras was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro down the highway when he lost control. He was with his girlfriend Edilia Arvelo, who also died.

Taveras' father, Francisco Taveras, spoke at the ceremony.

"I'm extremely devastated about what has happened," he said. "I urge young people to wear their seatbelts and to learn from what happened to my son."

Images from the event show people crying, many of them in close quarters to pay their respect to the athlete. Some people wore Taveras jerseys to honor him. There were also pictures of people touching Taveras' coffin as it went by.

"This is a huge loss for us and the Dominican Republic," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He was our weapon off the bench and we had plans for him next year. Even though he was only 22, he wasn't afraid of anything. He had a great heart, and this is a tragedy for us."

Matheny and Mozeliak flew to the Dominican Republic to visit Taveras' family the day after his death.

Mozeliak said that as soon as they got off the airplane in the Dominican Republic, they could "feel the loss" because Taveras was very important to the people in the region.

Before Game 6 of the World Series, the Giants and the Royals had a moment of silence for Taveras in Kansas City, Missouri. Athletes had messages written on their hats.

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