Sporting goods giant Easton-Bell has developed a prototype pitching helmet for pitchers, part of a concerted effort to cut down on debilitating brain injuries to young athletes.

With representatives from Little League Baseball on hand, Easton-Bell CEO Paul Harrington unveiled the as-yet-unnamed helmet yesterday at the company's new 55,000-square-foot helmet R&D facility in Northern California, appropriately named "The Dome."

"We feel confident enough with the testing that we've done that it's safe enough to put a prototype on the field," Harrington told reporters.

Standing with Harrington was Gunnar Sandberg, a 17-year-old Marin Catholic High School pitcher who was struck in the head one year ago by a line drive and had to be put into a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling.

His case made national headlines as the debate over traumatic brain injuries, which had been focused almost exclusively on pro football players, suddenly shifted toward baseball, where balls struck off of aluminum bats can reach speeds approaching 100 mph.

Miraculously, Sandberg will be returning to the mound this spring for Marin Catholic, wearing the prototype. Harrington said that the young pitcher's injury "galvanized" the team at Easton-Bell to develop a helmet that could've prevented or reduced his injury. More than that, he stressed the need to develop something that would add safety but not hinder the pitcher's natural performance in any way.

"A product like this will give us much more confidence when he's out there," said Bjorn Sandberg, Gunnar's father, at the unveiling.

The helmet is made from expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is extremely lightweight and adept at absorbing energy. Easton-Bell researchers dissected footage of 5,000 pitchers, trying to analyze where the problem spots lie while keeping an eye toward maintaining comfort and utility.

"We can design the best pitcher's helmet," Harrington said, "but unless the kids put it on, it's not going to accomplish its purpose."

Easton-Bell execs hope to get the product in stores by this fall, and if the market bears out the way Harrington hopes it will, similarly designed helmets for other sports are on the horizon: "Our first need was baseball. If this product performs the way we think it will, other sports will follow."

Photos: Courtesy Easton-Bell