Jharel Cotton throws the kind of stuff that stirs images of an old-time baseball cartoon, and East Carolina skipper Billy Godwin found the island treasure without getting a vacation out of the deal.

Cotton came to the mainland U.S. from the Virgin Islands, but before arriving in Greenville this winter as an almost certain starting pitcher for the Pirates, his baseball journey carried him to Virginia and Florida and nearly into the professional ranks.

Now that he’s decided to see out his collegiate career at ECU, Cotton is unfurling a changeup that Godwin called a Bugs Bunny pitch — like the one Bugs used to strike out three consecutive Gas House Gorillas on a single pitch before it crossed the plate.

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