Courtright graduated from Marion Harding High School in Marion, Ohio, played college baseball at Duke and was selected in the eighth round of the 1991 Major League Baseball draft by the Reds.
In April 1994, while pitching for the Chattanooga Lookouts, Courtright was the first pitcher to face Birmingham Barons outfielder Michael Jordan in a regular season game. He struck Jordan out twice but asked for his autograph on the following day.
On May 6, 1995, he and Scott Sullivan were promoted to Cincinnati's Major League roster to replace Willie Greene and Johnny Ruffin. He made his debut on the same day at the age of 25 at Riverfront Stadium against the New York Mets. In the eighth inning, manager Davey Johnson double-switched him and Jerome Walton into the game for Deion Sanders and Scott Sullivan respectively. He pitched one inning and gave up one earned run and never pitched in the big leagues again.

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