One year and one day after he walked off Johnsburg’s mound stunned and dejected after committing a walk-off balk, Marengo pitcher Alex Johnson earned his redemption.

He jumped off the same mound full of energy, pumped his arms, screamed, jumped and spun furiously into an equally ecstatic teammate. Johnson’s complete-game effort helped Marengo win 5-3 Wednesday to complete a sweep of the defending Kishwaukee River Conference champions.

The win put Marengo (9-6, 4-2) and Johnsburg (10-5, 4-2) in a first-place tie in the KRC along with Richmond-Burton. By virtue of their two wins over Johnsburg, Marengo would win the tiebreaker if both teams remain tied for first at the end of conference play next month.

“The whole bus ride here, we were energy,” Johnson said. “We just want to beat them every year.”

The two teams split last season, but the first meeting ended with Johnsburg walking off the field with a 3-2 victory when Johnson balked home the winning run. Indians coach Nick Naranjo blamed himself, saying he told Johnson to step off the mound while Naranjo adjusted his outfielders.

Johnson remembers how it all ended.

“Can’t forget that one,” he said.

He likely won’t forget Wednesday’s game either.

“It felt like I was going to get PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] standing out there,” Johnson said. “In school, I was a little nervous.”

Once he worked through his nerves in the first inning, stranding runners at the corners to keep Marengo up 2-0, Johnson settled in. Johnsburg touched him for two runs in the third, cutting its deficit to 3-2 on Jack Thompson’s RBI double and starting pitcher Ashton Stern’s run-scoring ground out.

But Johnson wasn’t going anywhere, as he retired nine of 10 hitters during one stretch. He allowed a two-out RBI single to Stern in the seventh, after Nate Frost had singled with one out, prompting a mound visit from Naranjo.

“He told me that this is my game, and he’s not pulling me,” said Johnson, who’s been the Indians’ top starting pitcher along with Max Broughton. “I had to work out of it. I got into [the jam]. I had to get out of it.”

Johnson did, retiring Josh Speer on a fielder’s choice. It was the senior right-hander’s 106th pitch of the game. He allowed 10 hits, striking out seven and walking none.

“We’re super proud of him,” Naranjo said. “He battled all day.”

Johnson also went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice bunt from the leadoff spot. Junior designated hitter Kosta Siambanis was 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI single after hitting a walk-off single in Marengo’s 6-5 win Monday and going 3 for 4 as well.

“The same approach I had on Monday,” Siambanis said. “I had a job to do out there. It was an aggressive-early-in-the-count type of approach. If I was down [in the count], I’d go to a two-strike approach – just contact, aiming for a little single."

Marengo, which grabbed its 2-0 lead in the first on Brady Kentgen’s RBI triple and Caden Oine’s RBI double, went up 3-0 on Johnson’s run-scoring base hit in second. After the Skyhawks pulled to within one, Siambanis singled home Broughton (1 for 4) in the fifth to make it 4-2.

Kentgen’s sacrifice fly in the sixth gave the visitors another insurance run.

“It’s huge,” Naranjo said of adding on to the lead. “Going wire to wire is not something that we anticipated. We knew it was going to be a battle. They’re a really good team.”

Johnsburg got two-hit games from Frost, Thompson, Speer and Jacob Smith. But the Skyhawks misplayed two balls in the outfield and made an errant throw on an outfield throw to the plate that resulted in an error.

Johnsburg coach Eric Toussaint pulled Stern after five innings. The Carthage College commit allowed four runs and eight hits.

“We didn’t play very good defense behind him,” Toussaint said. “He’s great. It’s high school athletics. They’re not going to be perfect all the time. We just got to bounce back from adversity.”

Johnsburg rallied from a 5-0 deficit after five innings Monday. A similar comeback never materialized.

“Before the season, I would have told you that our pitching and defense would carry us and our hitting would be a little weaker,” Toussaint said. “But our defense is letting us down. The pitching is still good.”

This year, Marengo left Johnsburg feeling great.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a while now,” Siambanis said. “It was an absolutely wonderful day. [The win] was massive for us.”