Former Red Land Little League star and Georgia Bulldog Cole Wagner announced his transfer to Penn State baseball Wednesday after retiring from baseball in July.

The Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, first baseman and left-handed pitcher helped lead Red Land to a Little League World Series United States Championship victory in 2015. Red Land later fell to Japan in the World Championship.

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Wagner spent the last two years at Georgia, where he registered 12 home runs and 44 RBIs through 89 games and 71 starts. After the 2023 season, Wagner announced he was stepping away from baseball.

Wagner broke the news that he was returning to the sport and joining head coach Mike Gambino in the fall of 2024.

“The last six months of my life have been full of new beginnings, life lessons, and rites of passage,” he wrote. “I got engaged to my best friend, started my senior year of college, got my first job, and began to adjust to life after baseball. I quickly began to realize that I still had a lot of love for the game that I thought I left behind forever and wasn’t ready to walk away quite yet.”

With two years of collegiate eligibility remaining, Wagner will reunite with former Red Land teammate Jaden Henline, who is heading into his fourth season with the Nittany Lions this spring.

“…I am beyond grateful for Coach Gambino and the rest of the Penn State Baseball staff for giving me the opportunity to play the game I love again,” Wagner said. “I can’t wait to get to Happy Valley in the Fall of 2024 and be a part of something special. We Are!!!”

Penn State is coming off an up-and-down 25-25 season, which culminated in longtime head coach Rob Cooper stepping down after nine years with the team.