Marengo‘s Ellie White knew her right arm was going to get a heavy workout during her senior season. With last year’s ace graduated, she prepared for a mountain of innings.

“I get sore, but just got to push through it,” said White, who threw all five innings Tuesday in a 16-5 Kishwaukee River Conference victory against Johnsburg. “It’s not too bad. There’s kind of no other option, so you got to do what you got to do.

“Just go out and get the job done.”

White, who has thrown 77⅓ of her team’s 84 innings so far this season, shook off a four-run top of the third inning Tuesday, surrendering home runs to No. 3 hitter Kimmy Whitlock and No. 5 hitter Carlie Majercik, and finished with 10 strikeouts as the Indians (7-7, 3-1 KRC) moved to .500 after an 0-4 start.

Marengo has won the conference three years in a row, and a lot weighs on the arm of White, who doesn’t plan to play softball beyond high school.

“I was pretty nervous before the season,” said White, who allowed four earned runs on eight hits and no walks. “I was behind Jozsa (Christiansen) last year. She kind of taught me. She kind of plays in my head every day. Just trying to be a leader and staying positive. We’ve had a couple of rough games this season and I’m just trying not to get down on myself.”

Along with a .371 batting average, 14 doubles and 35 RBIs, White was 6-1 as a junior with a solid 3.12 ERA behind Christiansen, who factored into 31 decisions with 21 of the team’s 27 victories.

Only sophomore Payge Litchfield and freshman Natalie Potirus have joined White in the circle this season, totaling just 6⅔ innings.

White was coming off a 5-0 win over Plano on Monday, where she allowed four hits, struck out nine and again walked none in seven innings.

“I think Ellie White’s been doing a really good job all year,” Marengo coach Dwain Nance said. “She’ll probably break the record of innings pitched for us. There’s times where she labors because she throws a few too many balls. But when she’s really on and hitting those spots, a lot of the time she gets one-, two-, three-pitch outs, and that’s a really big key. I think there’s only been a couple of games where she’s been over 100 pitches. A lot of games she’s in the 90s, and I do look at that number quite a bit.”

White also helped her own cause at the plate, reaching base in her first three plate appearances, which included a double, and scoring three times. Marengo came out with a 10-run first inning, sending 16 to the plate against Johnsburg (3-7, 1-3), and added five runs in the second.

Allie Tucker went 3 for 3 with four RBIs, while Gianna Iovinelli (1 for 4, double, two runs), Ari Rodriguez (1 for 2, three runs) and Abby Balmes (1 for 2, two runs) each drove in a pair of runs. Mia Miceli had two hits, including a double, and drove in one.

Tucker, a freshman, started at catcher Tuesday. She didn’t even expect to make the varsity team.

“I thought I was going to be on JV, but I’m super grateful to be on varsity,” Tucker said. “We’ve had some rough games, but we’ve been able to work as a team and push through that. (White) hits her spots really well. She’s stays positive and is able to perform under pressure.

“I just try to be a wall. Try not to let anything get past me and be the best target for Ellie so she can pitch well.”

Johnsburg, despite going down 15-1 after two innings, found some offensive life in the third, thanks to long balls from Whitlock and Majercik. Whitlock’s was a two-run shot.

Johnsburg has lost two in a row following a doubleheader sweep against Marian Central, which threw ace and Dayton-commit Christine Chmiel at the Skyhawks.

“We do have some really good hitters,” first-year coach John Rodgers said. “They take a lot of pride in their at-bats. We never really take any at-bats off. ... It was just unfortunate that, today, you get into a spot like this and suddenly the game’s a little out of hand and you’re trying to come back. Sometimes you just run out of time.”

Brooke Wilkinson was third third pitcher to enter the game for Johnsburg, and she held the Indians to a run in 2⅔ innings with three strikeouts.

“She’s not super experienced but she’s improved a lot,” Rodgers said. “She’s been very dependable being around the plate. She has a lot of the pitches you wouldn’t expect from somebody who hasn’t pitched that much.”

In the top of the fifth, White struck out Whitlock and Evelyn Mercurio to start the inning. A fielding error allowed Majercik to reach base before White got Abri Bruns to ground out for the final out.

“I just wanted to end it right there,” White said. “If they scored we’d have to keep playing.”

And keep pitching.