It’s hard for Dougie DelaCruz to fully express the impact his mother Ruth continues to have on his life.

Ruth has always been there for Dougie and his three brothers.

“She’s awesome,” Dougie said. “She’s super nice. She’s supportive with everything that me and my brothers do, whether that be sports or going into whatever work that we want to do. She’s meant a lot to me. It’s a lot to explain.”

While Dougie, a junior outfielder, is an MVP candidate on the Mitchell College baseball team, Ruth is deserving of the honor in the DelaCruz family.

“It definitely was a handful, especially when all four of us were home,” Dougie said. “We always had food and everything that we needed. She’s really patient with all of us.”

Along the way, Ruth taught her sons some valuable lessons.

“She’s caring for everyone,” Dougie said. “She always sees the good in people. I think that’s rubbed off on all of us.”

Ruth is a big sports fan, too. And about the only thing she loves watching more than her Dallas Cowboys is her sons play sports.

She has expertly juggled family life and work; She’s a paraprofessional at Murphy Elementary School in Montville.

“She didn’t miss anything that we had — all four of us,” Dougie said. “Sometimes if we had a game really far away and she had work, she would come and pick us up and bring us. It was just a long day, especially when I was younger when we were playing AAU baseball and there were games in different places every single weekend.”

It’s become easier for Ruth and her husband, Dave, now that Dougie and younger brother Robbie are Mitchell teammates. And Ruth has kept things in proper perspective when it comes to competition.

“She usually just tells us to go out and play hard and not to take it too seriously because it is still just a game,” Dougie said. “She’s never been too hard on us with sports. It’s just always positive reinforcement that comes from my mom.”