PHOENIX, Ariz. — Mimi Harris just graduated high school and is throwing out the first pitch at a Diamondbacks game — a reward for a decision many wouldn't have made.
The Star Mountain Pointe volleyball player was playing in a tournament with her club team when the final point came down to a bad call.
Her team won, but Mimi knew they shouldn't have; the ball fell in, not out.
She told the referee what happened. The call was reversed and her team lost.
"It wouldn't sit right with me knowing that we really shouldn't have won that game because of a bad call," Harris recalled. "If I was the other team, I would be really hurt that the game was taken away from us because of one bad call."
Her mom, Bre, is a former college volleyball player and saw the ref's call was wrong as well. She wondered what her daughter would do.
"She went with her gut," Bre said. "I told her, 'When you do the right thing, you never lose.'"
Mimi's decision was an award-winning one, earning her a Better Business Bureau ethics scholarship. She is now headed to Alabama State with that award and a volleyball scholarship.
She never regretted her choice to tell the ref and said, eventually, her teammates were supportive.
"At first they weren't," she said. "At first they were sad, some of them were upset. But after we really talked about it, they appreciated the fact I was honest about it."
Mimi has also donated hundreds of hours to charity during her high school career. Last year, she donated hundreds of pairs of jeans to girls in need.
This story was originally reported by Steve Nielsen of Fox affiliate KSAZ.
