Oregon State University baseball player Jorge Reyes was sentenced to 15 days in jail Tuesday afternoon, for firing a rifle within city limits last winter.

While the 20-year-old acknowledged that he made a mistake, he said the situation wasn’t dangerous because he aimed the firearm at the ground.

“I understand what you are saying about endangering someone, but at the same time, there’s absolutely no way that it could have hurt someone,” Reyes told the judge.

After the hearing, Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said that Reyes had been very proactive in taking responsibility for his actions.

Reyes, a starting pitcher, was the most outstanding player of the 2007 College World Series as a freshman, leading the Beavers to their second straight national title.

After sentencing Reyes, Judge Janet Holcomb gave him slightly more than one hour to report to the Benton County jail.

“I do believe you’ve learned a valuable lesson from this and you’re very fortunate no one was hurt in this situation because these are the type of situations that can result in tragedies,” the judge said.

Reyes, 20, pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering another, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of the plea agreement, a Class A felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon and another misdemeanor, criminal mischief, were dropped.

John Wallace, an outfielder on the team and for the Corvallis Knights, and Anton Maxwell, a pitcher on the 2007 team, both entered identical plea agreements on July 16.

According to police, the trio fired three .22-caliber rifle bullets into a neighbor’s house on March 18 during a late-night bout of target shooting. One bullet went into a bedroom where the resident was asleep, and another hit a car parked behind the house.

Neither of the two people inside the residence was injured.

Haroldson said Reyes wasn’t malevolent, but that he did use poor judgment and that the athlete didn’t get any special treatment.

“We’re here to establish a bar of justice that is the same for everyone, whether you are a celebrity or not,” Haroldson said. He added that the sentence was tough for each of the young men charged because none of them had been in trouble with the law before.

Defense attorney John Rich said that Reyes was not the instigator or the facilitator of the target practice, but he arrived as it was happening.

Reyes must complete 20 hours of community service by Dec. 31, complete a gun safety course and write a letter of apology. If the terms of his sentence are completed, his one-year probation could end early.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at

kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.